L 


B<e  m  r«r  *M*R  --TP* 

'^&^»  Tfct-S 


1DW';"N  IP 

C.L1  \          - 


.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF 
DIGGELDY  DAN 


Who — may — you — be?"  exclaimed  the  four  in  surprise. 
FRONTISPIECE.     See  page  135. 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF 
DIGGELDY  DAN 


BY 
EDWIN  P.  NORWOOD 

WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY 
A.  CONWAY  PEYTON 


BOSTON 
LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 

1922 


Copyright,  1982, 
BY  LITTL.E,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved 
Published  September,  19122 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OP  AMERICA 


TO 

THE  HOSFOBDS 

OP 
MEADOW  HOUSE 


2131875 


These  tales  were  first  told  for  the  Children's  Page  of 
The  Christian  Science  Monitor,  and  the  author  takes  this 
means  of  acknowledging  his  appreciation  of  the  arrange- 
ment by  which  he  is  privileged  to  republish  them. 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

I    In  Which  Dan  Meets  the  Pretty  Lady  with 

the  Blue-Blue  Eyes 3 

II    In  Which  Dan  Hears  the  Message  from  Too- 
Bo-Tan    12 

III  In  Which  Dan  Releases  the  Animals  of 

Spangleland 18 

IV  In  Which  the  Animals  Elect  Officers    ..     .       25 
V   In  Which  Giraffe  Gives  a  Chalk-Talk  and 

the  Animals  Learn  a  New  Game  ...       31 
VI    In  Which  the  Animals  Send  a  Message  to 

the  Pretty  Lady 37 

VII    In  Which  the  Animals  Meet  with  a  Disap- 
pointment and  a  Surprise  and  a  Story  is 

Begun 43 

VIII    In  Which  the  Pretty  Lady  Continues  Her 

Story 53 

IX    In  Which  the  Pretty  Lady  Concludes  Her 

Story 62 

X    In  Which  the  Pretty  Lady  Teh's  of  Mysteries 

and  Spangles 70 

XI    In  Which  the  Animals  Play  at  Circus  and 

Dan  Promises  a  Story 79 

XII    In  Which  Dan  Answers  the  Beckoning  Trees       88 
XIII    In  Which  Dan  Learns  of  Peanuts  and  Things      98 

ix 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

XIV   In  Which  Dan  Parts  with  Old  Friends  and 

Prepares  to  Claim  a  Reward  ....      108 
XV    In  Which  Dan  and  Gray  Ears  Arrive  at 

Their  Goal 118 

XVI    In  Which  Dan  Joins  the  Very  Biggest  Circus     130 
XVII    In  Which  the  Animals  Entertain  an  Unex- 
pected Caller 139 

XVIII    In  Which  the  Pretty  Lady  Carries  a  Passen- 
ger into  the  Wide  Wide  World      .      .      .     149 
XIX    In  Which  Little  Black  Bear  Spends  a  Night 

in  the  Forest 159 

XX   In  Which  Little  Black  Bear  Meets  Shagg, 

the  Carpenter 169 

XXI    In  Which  Little  Black  Bear  Adds  Still  More 

to  His  Story 181 

XXII.  In  Which  Dan  Meets  Beader,  of  the  Jumping 

Dragoons 192 

XXIII  In  Which  Dan  Spends  a  Night  in  the  Valley 

ofTickTock 204 

XXIV  In  Which  Dan  is  Presented  wi  th  the  Key  to 

the  Valley 216 

XXV   In  Which  Dan  Hears  the  Clock  Strike  One    227 
XXVI    We  Say  Goodbye  to  Diggeldy  Dan      .     .     239 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"'Who — may — you — be?'  exclaimed  the  four  in 

surprise" Frontispiece 

In  a  very  twinkling,  there  appeared  the  most  beau- 
tiful circus  lady  one  ever  laid  eyes  upon  .     .     Page  10 

Away  they  all  went,  down  through  the  line      .         "    35 

"Then  he  picked  up  his  left  foot  and  began  to  use 
its  toes  for  counters" "59 

And  so  this  strangest  of  all  circuses  began  .  "83 

"Something  came  from  out  the  air,  and  swept  me 

square  off  my  toes" 95 

Little  Black  Bear  gladly  did  his  tricks  over  and 

over  again "  185 

At  the  boom  of  "One"  the  mice  fairly  rained  into 

the  Great  Room  "  235 


XI 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF 
DIGGELDY  DAN 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF 
DIGGELDY  DAN 

CHAPTER  I 

IN   WHICH   DAN   MEETS   THE   PRETTY   LADY    WITH 
THE  BLUE-BLUE  EYES 

HAD  you  tiptoed  to  the  very  edge  of  a 
certain  town,  on  a  certain  day  not  so 
very  long  ago,  you  would  have  come 
upon  a  great  sprawling  cluster  of  big  and  little 
tents.  And  had  you  held  your  breath  and 
walked  ever  so  quietly,  you  would  finally  have 
reached  an  open  space  in  the  very  center  of  the 
bigger  tents,  where  stood  a  small  white  tent  that 
seemed  far  more  interesting  than  all  the  rest. 
Just  why  it  seemed  so  would  have  been  hard  to 
tell,  unless  it  was  because — though  there  was 
not  so  much  as  a  thimbleful  of  wind  astir — a 
certain  spot  in  its  canvas  wall  kept  bulging  in 
and  out,  after  the  fashion  of  a  curtain  in  the 

3 


breeze.  At  times,  this  spot  would  settle  back 
into  place,  only  to  start  jiggling  a  moment 
later,  just  as  though  there  were  some  one 
inside  the  tent,  clutching  at  its  wall  and  shak- 
ing it,  much  as  a  monkey  rattles  the  bars  to 
its  cage. 

As  for  the  open  space  between  the  little 
white  tent  and  all  the  bigger  circus  tents — for 
the  tents  were  all  a  part  of  Spangleland — 
there  was  no  sign  of  life.  True,  there  were 
gayly  dressed  men  scattered  about  here  and 
there — and  women,  too.  But  all  were  fast 
asleep.  Some  lay  back  in  low,  canvas  chairs 
strung  in  a  row  in  the  shadow  of  the  tents. 
Some,  with  their  chins  propped  in  their  hands, 
were  perched  like  pigeons  on  the  tongues  of 
wonderful  red  and  golden  wagons;  while  still 
others  lay  at  full  length  on  the  cool,  green 
grass.  The  lap  of  one  was  covered  by  a 
newspaper  and  that  of  another  held  an  open 
book,  just  as  if  their  owners  had  grown  weary 
of  reading  and  dozed  off  to  sleep,  square  in  the 
middle  of  a  sentence. 

So  there  was  no  sign  of  life,  except  the 
jiggling  of  the  wall  of  the  round,  white  tent 

4 


DAN  MEETS  THE  PRETTY  LADY 

that   stood   in   the    center   of   all   the   bigger 
tents. 

Meantime  the  day  was  fast  making  ready 
for  bed.  Indeed,  the  sun  was  just  on  the  point 
of  slipping  out  of  sight  behind  the  very  largest 
of  all  the  bigger  tents  when,  far  off  in  the  sky 
to  the  west,  there  appeared — a  tiny  black 
speck.  And  at  this  the  wall  of  the  round  white 
tent  began  to  jiggle  more  violently  than  before, 
while  a  wee  little  eye  appeared,  peeking 
through  a  wee  little  hole  in  its  wall.  And,  as 
the  wee  eye  watched,  the  speck  grew  in  size 
and  then  began  to  describe  little  curves,  as  if 
it  were  bounding  up  and  down  as  it  came. 
And,  for  that  matter,  so  it  was.  For  the  speck 
was  a  bird  on  the  wing,  and  it  was  headed 
straight  for  the  tents  of  Spangleland.  On  it 
came,  until  it  had  reached  the  very  edge  of  the 
circus  town.  And  then  it  began  to  bound  up 
and  down  even  more  than  before,  and  to  circle 
this  way  and  that,  as  if  to  make  sure  of  some 
certain  thing  of  which  it  alone  knew  the  secret. 
But  it  flew  more  slowly  now,  so  that  one 
might  have  seen — had  any  been  there  to  see — 
that  its  color  was  a  wondrous  blue  and  of  so 

5 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

gorgeous  a  hue  that  the  red  and  golden 
wagons — which  were  just  at  that  moment 
struck  by  the  sun's  parting  rays — must  have 
felt  very  much  ashamed  of  themselves. 

Finally,  as  if  no  longer  in  doubt,  the  bird 
fixed  its  eyes  on  the  little  white  tent,  and  flew 
straight  to  the  wee  hole  in  its  wall.  And,  as  it 
reached  the  tent,  it  began  to  call,  in  the  softest 
voice  imaginable: 

"O,  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan! 
O,  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan!" 

While  from  behind  the  wall  of  the  round 
white  tent  came  the  merriest  of  voices  in  reply, 
singing,  almost  as  softly: 

"Here's  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan; 
Here's  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan!" 

"Then,"  said  the  bird,  who  had  by  this 
time  perched  itself  on  the  nose  of  one  of  the 
little  round  poles  that  stuck  out  near  the  eaves 
of  the  round  white  tent,  "come  forth  at  once, 


sir." 


And  at  this  command  the  canvas  wall  of  the 

6 


DAN  MEETS  THE  PRETTY  LADY 

round  white  tent  was  parted  by  the  very  hands 
of  the  one  who  had  been  jiggling  it  in  his  im- 
patience to  put  it  aside;  and,  little  by  little,  as 
if  he  feared  that  those  who  slept  might  waken, 
there  appeared  the  funniest  little  old  man  in 
all  the  world. 

First  came  his  head,  all  white  and  smooth 
and  crowned  by  a  queer  round  hat  that  came 
to  a  point  at  the  top.  And  his  ears  were 
white,  too,  and  so  was  his  face,  except  for  his 
red,  red  lips  and  five  curious  spots  of  red — one 
on  his  chin,  one  on  his  brow,  one  on  each 
cheek,  and  one  on  the  tip  of  his  long,  funny 
nose.  He  wore  a  collar  that  was  all  ruffled  and 
round  and  a  baggy  white  suit,  trimmed  with 
great  polka-dot  patches,  that  might  have  been 
likened  to  very  red  apples,  except  for  the  fact 
that  half  of  them  were  blue. 

"Come,  come!  Make  haste  there,  Dan — if, 
indeed,  you  are  Diggeldy  Dan,"  cried  the  bird 
from  its  perch  on  the  little  round  pole. 

"Quite  so,  quite  so,"  chuckled  the  funny  old 
man.  And,  suiting  himself  to  his  words,  he 
made  a  quick  skip  into  the  open,  danced  three 
steps  to  the  left  and  three  to  the  right,  and 

7 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

then,  doffing  his  queer,  sugar-loaf  hat,  made  a 
very  grand  courtesy  in  the  direction  of  the  bird, 
saying  as  he  did  so: 

"At  your  service,  little  messenger." 
"Ah,  then  you  know  who  I  am!"  exclaimed 
the  one  who  had  come  out  of  the  west.     "But 
I  must  be  very  sure.     So  tell  me,  if  you  can, 
what  rhymes  with  this: 

"O,  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan." 

"Why,"  answered  the  clown — for  you  must 
have  guessed  that  he  was  a  clown — "Why," 
he  repeated, 

"You  are  the  courier  from  Too-Bo-Tan." 

But  though  the  bird  nodded  in  approval,  as 
if  to  say,  "Yes,  yes,  that  is  correct,"  it  still 
seemed  reluctant  to  admit  that  the  man  was 
really  Diggeldy  Dan.  So  it  put  its  head  first 
to  one  side  and  then  to  the  other,  and  puckered 
its  very  blue  brows,  as  if  thinking  up  some 
further  test.  And  then  it  spoke  again. 

"Diggeldy  Dan — if,  indeed,  you  are  Dig- 
geldy Dan — who  was  it  told  you  the  last  line 
of  the  rhyme?" 

8 


DAN  MEETS  THE  PRETTY  LADY 

"Why,"  answered  the  clown  with  great 
readiness,  "it  was  the  Pretty  Lady  with  the 
Blue-Blue  Eyes.  She  came  to  me  in  a  dream 
last  night — riding  her  White-White  Horse 
through  the  skies.  She  wakened  me,  or  at 
least  I  thought  she  did,  by  tickling  my  nose 
with  her  slim  little  whip.  She  said:  *  To- 
morrow, after  the  circus  is  over  and  the  great 
crowd  has  gone  home  to  its  supper,  and  after 
the  people  of  the  circus  have  had  their  suppers 
and  are  come  back  to  the  shady  places  in  and 
about  the  big  and  little  tents,  to  read  and  to 
tell  their  tales  and  take  their  ease,  they  will 
all  fall  into  a  very  deep  sleep — that  is,  all  but 
Diggeldy  Dan.'" 

And,  at  this,  the  clown  paused  to  take  a 
much-needed  breath;  for  he  had  become  some- 
what excited  in  telling  his  story  and,  to  speak 
the  truth,  had  quite  forgotten  to  breathe 
between  sentences. 

But  at  a  sign  from  the  bird,  he  went  on: 
"As  for  you,   Dan,   Dan,   Diggeldy  Dan,' 
continued    the    Pretty    Lady    with    the    Blue- 
Blue  Eyes,  'you  will  not  go  to  sleep.    Instead, 
you  are  to  hide  in  the  round  white  tent  that 

9 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

stands  in  the  center  of  all  the  bigger  tents, 
and  wait  for  the  messenger  who  will  come  out 
of  the  west.'  And  then  she  told  me  the  rhyme. 
'For  to-morrow,'  she  said,  'you'll  have  been  a 
clown  for  a  hundred  years  and  a  day.'  Yes, 
that  was  just  what  she  said:  'A  hundred  years 
and  a  day.'  And  so  I  have  been.  But,  what 
of  that,  my  pretty  bird?  For  see!  I  still  can 
dance  as  merrily  and  as  lightly  as  any  butterfly 
that  flits  o'er  the  fields  in  the  May!" 

As  if  to  prove  what  he  had  said,  the  funny 
old  clown  tripped  off  so  very  blithely  and  so 
very  fast  that  he  bumped  smack  into  one  of 
the  red  and  golden  wagons  that  stood  in  the 
lee  of  the  round  white  tent. 

"Ah,  ha!"  said  the  bird,  half  to  itself,  and 
hardly  seeming  to  notice  that  the  bump  into 
the  wagon  had  sent  the  clown  to  the  grass  on 
his  back,  "you  will  do,  Diggeldy  Dan;  you 
will  do." 

And,  with  that,  it  flew  from  its  perch  at  the 
top  of  the  little  round  pole,  while  in  a  very 
twinkling,  there  appeared  the  most  beautiful 
circus  lady  one  ever  laid  eyes  upon — and  with 
her  a  White- White  Horse  right  out  of  the  sky. 

10 


In  a  very  twinkling  there  appeared  the  most  beautiful  circus 
lady  one  ever  laid  eyes  upon.     Page  10. 


DAN  MEETS  THE  PRETTY  LADY 

So  that,  when  Dan  picked  himself  up,  and, 
lifting  one  foot,  was  just  about  to  finish  his 
dance,  his  red-red  lips  fell  very  far  apart  and 
his  eyes  became  almost  as  large  as  the  polka- 
dot  patches  that  covered  his  white,  baggy  suit. 
Indeed,  he  presented  so  comical  an  appear- 
ance— standing  there  with  one  foot  in  the  air, 
and  staring  his  visitor  most  out  of  counte- 
nance— that  the  Lady  leaned  forward  on  her 
White- White  Horse  and  burst  into  so  merry 
a  laugh  that  it  sounded  like  all  the  silver  tinkle- 
bells  in  the  world. 

"Why,"  exclaimed  Dan,  when  he  had  finally 
found  his  voice  and  put  down  his  foot,  "y°u 
are  the  Pretty  Lady  with  the  Blue-Blue  Eyes ! " 

"Yes,  and  the  blue  bird,  too;  for  it  was  I, 
all  the  while.  And  now,  Diggeldy  Dan,  if  you 
will  be  so  good  as  to  come  with  me  to  the  very 
edge  of  Spangleland,  I  will  tell  you  the  message 
from  Too-Bo-Tan." 

And  so  the  Pretty  Lady  and  the  White- 
White  Horse,  with  Dan  walking  by  their  side, 
passed  slowly  along  between  the  big  and  little 
tents,  speaking  not  at  all,  while  the  clown  kept 
wondering  what  it  was  he  was  so  soon  to  hear. 

11 


CHAPTER  II 

IN     WHICH     DAN     HEARS     THE     MESSAGE     FROM 
TOO-BO-TAN 

NOW,  when  the  Pretty  Lady  with  the 
Blue-Blue  Eyes  had  reached  the  very 
outer  edge  of  Spangleland,  she  brought 
her  White- White  Horse  to  a  pause.  And  Dig- 
geldy  Dan  paused,  too.  There  they  stood, 
forming  a  picture  for  all  the  world  like  one  you 
must  have  seen  in  a  story  book;  only  it  was 
much  more  wonderful  than  that  could  ever  be. 
For  no  artist  could  ever  have  quite  caught  the 
blue  in  the  Lady's  eyes,  or  the  gold  that  lay  in 
her  hair.  For,  oddly  enough,  her  yellow  curls 
gleamed,  though  by  this  time  the  twilight  had 
come  and  the  lights  of  the  night  begun  to  blink 
and  to  wink,  away  off  in  the  streets  of  the 
town.  Then  the  Pretty  Lady  began  to 
speak : 

"Dan;  for  now  I  know  you  are  Diggeldy 

12 


MESSAGE  FROM  TOO-BO-TAN 

Dan;  what  is  in  this  great,  white  tent  that 
stands  so  near  where  we  stand?" 

"Why,"  answered  Dan,  "there's  monkeys, 
and  lions,  and  tigers  and  things,  and — " 

"Quite  so,"  the  Lady  broke  in.  "It,  then, 
is  the  tent  that  we  want.  Now  listen  to  me 
with  both  your  funny  white  ears  and  with  all 
your  two  twinkling  eyes.  For  this  is  the 
message  from  Too-Bo-Tan,  to  all  the  animals 
of  Spangleland:  Beginning  on  the  morrow  and 
on  every  day  ever  after,  there  is  to  come  a  wee 
little  hour  in  the  twilight  when  all  the  mon- 
keys, and  lions,  and  tigers,  and  things  are  to  be 
let  out  of  their  cages,  allowed  to  dance  and  to 
play  and  do  as  they  will." 

"But,  oh,  Pretty  Lady,  that  will  not  do  at 
all,"  burst  in  Diggeldy  Dan.  "Their  cages  are 
locked,  there's  no  hour  to  spare,  and — and 
maybe  they'd  eat  folks  up!" 

But  for  answer  the  Lady  only  laughed — the 
laugh  that  was  so  like  the  tinkle  bells. 

"Have  no  fear,  Diggeldy  Dan.  All  that  has 
been  thought  out  by  far  wiser  heads  than  yours. 
You  see,  it  was  this  way:  Ever  so  long  ago, 
Too-Bo-Tan — who  is  the  very  biggest  monkey 

13 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

in  all  the  world — called  a  meeting  of  all  the 
animals  in  far-away  Jungleland.  And,  when 
they  had  gathered  on  the  highest  peak  of  the 
mountains,  where  Too-Bo  holds  his  wonderful 
court,  Too-Bo  rose  and  made  this  very  solemn 
speech : 

"It  was,  as  many  of  you  know,  the  very 
dearest  wish  of  my  honored  father,  Vargu,  that 
the  day  might  come  when  something  could  be 
done  to  make  easier  the  lot  of  our  fellow 
animals  who  have  so  nobly  sacrificed  then* 
freedom  and  consented  to  spend  their  lives  in 
red  and  golden  cages,  that  the  children  may 
have  their  circus  days.  Of  late,  I  have  had  my 
learned  counselors  go  into  this  matter  very 
thoroughly,  and  they  have  found,  but  yester- 
day, written  on  the  face  of  a  great  stone  in  the 
depths  of  a  certain  cave  in  a  certain  mountain, 
this  remarkable  decree: 

"On  the  day  when  Diggeldy  Dan  has  been 
a  clown  for  a  hundred  years  and  a  day,  as  a 
reward  for  the  great  joy  that  he  has  given  little 
children  through  all  his  merry  life,  he  will  be 
granted  the  privilege  of  releasing  all  animals 
from  their  cages  at  every  setting  of  the  sun." 

14 


MESSAGE  FROM  TOO-BO-TAN 

"And  so,'  continued  Too-Bo-Tan,  looking 
out  from  under  his  bushy  eyebrows,  'this 
meeting  of  all  the  animals  has  been  called  that 
we  may  discover  just  who  this  Diggeldy  Dan 
may  be,  where  he  is,  and,  most  important  of 
all,  whether  he  has  yet  been  a  clown  for  a 
hundred  years  and  a  day." 

"But,"  interrupted  Dan,  as  the  Pretty  Lady 
reached  this  point  in  her  story,  "I've  been 
right  here  with  the  circus  for  ever  and  ever 
and  ever  so  long." 

"Of  course,  you  have,"  agreed  the  Lady, 
"but,  you  see,  Too-Bo-Tan  had  been  so  busy 
with  other  matters  that  he  didn't  know  that 
you  had.  But  I  knew.  For  I  am  the  Fairy 
of  the  Circus — the  one  who  watches  over  all 
the  riders  and  all  the  clowns  and  all  the  people 
of  the  big  and  little  tents — the  one  who  knows 
just  what  each  one  of  them  does  every  single 
day.  And  so,  when  Too-Bo  had  finished 
speaking,  I  jumped  to  my  feet  and  said  that  I 
could  find  you  in  no  time  at  all.  Then  we 
waited  until  the  hour  should  come  when  you 
had  been  a  clown  for  a  hundred  years  and  a 
day.  And,  when  it  came,  I  at  once  called  for 

15 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

my  White-White  Horse  and,  as  you  know, 
came  to  you  through  the  skies  as  you  slept. 

"And  now,  for  the  hour  grows  late  and  you 
will  soon  be  needed  in  the  very  biggest  tent,  to 
laugh  and  to  dance  and  play  all  your  pranks, 
let  us  be  quick.  To-morrow,  at  half-past  twi- 
light-" 

"When — when  do  you  say?"  puzzled  Dan. 

"At  half -past  twilight,"  repeated  the  Lady. 
"Which  reminds  me  that  I  have  a  watch  for 
you  that  you  may  be  very  sure  of  the  hour — a 
very  precious  watch,  fashioned  from  the  petals 
of  a  great  white  flower,  that  never  blossoms, 
except  when  the  twilight  comes  and  then  only 
for  a  wee,  short  hour." 

Even  as  she  spoke,  the  Pretty  Lady  tugged 
at  a  silver  thread  that  lay  in  the  maze  of  the 
mane  of  her  White- White  Horse.  And  pres- 
ently there  appeared,  from  the  opposite  side  of 
her  snowy  mount,  the  queerest-looking  watch 
that  ever  told  time.  It  was  as  round  as  a 
pancake,  but  not  one-quarter  as  thick — indeed, 
it  seemed  to  have  no  thickness  at  all. 

"This,"  said  the  Lady,  as  she  unhooked  the 
thread,  "is  the  Petal  Watch.  You  are  to  keep 

16 


MESSAGE  FROM  TOO-BO-TAN 

it  tucked  away  in  the  peak  of  your  round, 
funny  hat.  And  each  evening,  just  at  half-past 
twilight,  it  will  open  and  put  forth  its  petals, 
and  then  you  will  know  it  is  time  to  let  loose 
the  monkeys,  and  tigers,  and  lions,  and  things." 

And  as  Dan,  taking  the  watch,  knelt  down 
to  fold  it  away  in  the  crown  of  his  hat,  there 
came  a  great  burst  of  music  from  the  very 
biggest  of  all  the  bigger  tents.  At  the  sound 
of  it  the  White- White  Horse  began  to  prance 
and  then — the  Pretty  Lady's  curls  set  flying  by 
the  speed  of  his  gallop — was  off  through  the 
night  to  the  west. 

For  a  moment  Diggeldy  Dan  made  as  if  to 
follow.  Then  he  turned,  and  holding  his  hat 
very  tightly,  as  if  fearing  he  might  lose  the 
watch  that  was  to  be  so  useful  on  the  morrow, 
he  skipped  away  toward  the  great  tent  from 
whence  the  music  came,  singing  as  he  ran. 


17 


CHAPTER  III 

IN     WHICH     DAN     RELEASES     THE     ANIMALS     OF 
SPANGLELAND 

S  the  sun  sank  to  rest  behind  the  tents 
of  Spangleland,  on  the  day  following 
the  visit  of  the  Pretty  Lady  with  the 
Blue-Blue  Eyes,  it  paused  for  a  moment — as  the 
sun  sometimes  will — and  shot  one  last,  long, 
lingering  beam  toward  the  little  white  tent 
which,  as  you  will  remember,  played  a  part  in 
the  beginning  of  this  tale.  Had  you  been  near 
at  the  time — and  possessed  some  knack  at  rid- 
ing sun  beams — you  might  have  mounted  this 
one  and  ridden  straight  through  the  wee  open 
place  that  served  as  a  peep-hole  for  the  wee 
little  eye  when  the  blue  bird  was  first  seen  in 
the  west.  For  it  was  through  this  tiny  chink 
that  the  sunbeam  passed  and,  having  gained 
entrance,  landed  plump  on  the  nose  of  Dig- 
geldy  Dan. 

18 


DAN  RELEASES  THE  ANIMALS 

Indeed,  it  came  so  suddenly  that  the  clown — 
who  sat  hunched  over  on  the  top  of  a  gayly 
painted  box,  lost  in  deep  thought — mistook  it 
for  a  bright  yellow  bee  and  tried  to  brush  it 
aside.  And  then  he  saw  his  mistake  and, 
sitting  up  very  straight,  glanced  upward  to  the 
hole  in  the  wall. 

"Oho!  Little  sunbeam;  so  you've  come  to 
remind  me!"  he  cried.  "Yes,  yes.  Now  I 
will  put  on  my  hat  and  wait  for  the  Petal 
Watch  to  tell  me  the  time." 

As  he  did  so  he  noticed  that — just  as 
before — all  those  who  were  near  him  were  quite 
fast  asleep.  And,  looking  up  and  then  down 
the  inside  of  the  tent,  at  all  the  many  clowns 
that  had  been  packed  off  to  Slumberland,  and 
all  the  queer,  colored  thingamajigs  and  all  the 
odd  do-dads  that  clowns  always  keep  near,  he 
waited  for  a  sign  from  the  watch.  He  did 
not  wait  long,  for  soon  he  felt  something 
tickling  the  top  of  his  smooth  white  head  and, 
removing  his  hat  ever  so  carefully,  there  he 
saw — exactly  as  the  Pretty  Lady  had  prom- 
ised— the  unfolding  petals  of  a  wonderful 
flower. 

19 


/ 

ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Surely,  now,"  reasoned  Dan,  "it  must  be 
half -past  twilight." 

So,  slipping  down  from  the  box,  he  tiptoed 
in  and  out  through  the  sleeping  forms,  passed 
to  the  open  space  between  the  little  white  tent 
and  all  the  bigger  tents,  picked  his  way  among 
the  gayly  dressed  men  and  the  women  who 
drowsed  in  the  chairs  or  lay  stretched  on  the 
grass  and,  once  clear  of  them,  skipped  away  as 
fast  as  ever  his  two  legs  would  carry  him  in 
the  direction  of  the  great  tent  where  lived  the 
monkeys,  and  tigers,  and  lions,  and  things. 
Reaching  its  entrance,  he  spied  all  the  keepers 
leaning  against  the  poles  of  the  tent.  But 
they,  too,  were  asleep — their  chins  buried  deep 
on  their  breasts.  Then  he  advanced  to  the 
very  center  of  the  vast  circle,  formed  by  all  the 
red  and  golden  cages.  And,  at  sight  of  this 
funny  old  clown  in  the  polka-dot  suit,  there 
went  up  such  a  cry  from  the  animals  that,  for 
the  moment,  Diggeldy  Dan  was  tempted  to 
skip  away  even  faster  than  he  had  come.  For 
never  had  he  heard  any  such  shout,  which — 
but  for  the  fact  that  the  people  of  the  circus 
were  in  a  very  deep  sleep — must  have  wakened 

20 


DAN  RELEASES  THE  ANIMALS 

every  one  of  them.  But  the  keepers  slept  on, 
and  soon  Dan  came  to  realize  that  the  voices 
were  joining  in  a  sort  of  chant.  Putting  his 
head  to  one  side  he  listened  ever  so  intently; 
and  then  a  great  smile  broke  over  his  face. 
For  gradually  the  chant  took  form.  Yes,  it  was 
quite  distinct  now.  The  animals  were  shouting, 
in  almost  as  many  keys  as  there  were  voices: 

"Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan, 
Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan." 

And,  looking  about  from  cage  to  cage,  Dan 
saw  that  all  of  the  animals  were  standing,  their 
eyes  shining,  their  faces  flushed,  their  mouths 
working  gleefully  in  the  song  that  sang  his 
name.  Then,  almost  as  quickly  as  it  had 
begun,  the  chant  ended  and  all  was  as  quiet  as 
the  hush  of  the  twilight. 

"Well,  well,"  began  Dan,  making  four 
separate  bows — one  to  the  north,  one  to  the 
east,  one  to  the  south,  and  the  last  to  the 
west — "y°u  seem  to  know  who  I  am!" 

"Of  course  we  do,"  answered  the  mighty 
chorus.  "You're  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan. 
We've  been  expecting  you  the  whole  day." 

21 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"And  who,  if  I  may  make  bold  to  ask,  told 
you  to  expect  me?" 

"Why,"  came  the  shout,  "it  was  a  little 
bird.  A  bird— " 

"Never  mind  the  rest,"  interrupted  Dan. 
"I  might  have  guessed,  without  asking.  It 
was  the  blue  bird,  of  course.  So  we'll  lose  no 
time  in  retelling  old  stories,  but  get  down  to 
business  at  once." 

And — that  he  might  not  be  accused  of  play- 
ing favorites,  in  so  far  as  which  animal  should 
be  the  first  to  be  let  out  of  its  cage — the  old 
clown  put  his  feet  together,  raised  himself  to 
the  very  tips  of  his  toes,  shut  his  eyes  very 
tightly,  spun  around  exactly  seven  times  and 
then — with  his  eyes  still  closed — followed  the 
end  of  his  long,  funny  nose,  until  it  had 
brought  him  to  the  door  of  that  cage  which 
was  nearest  it.  And,  opening  the  door  and  his 
eyes  at  the  very  same  moment,  Diggeldy  Dan 
came  face  to  face  with — Lion. 

"Lion,"  said  Dan,  as  he  took  one  of  the  big 
fellow's  paws  in  both  his  hands,  "I  am  sure 
that  this  nose  of  mine  showed  extremely  good 
sense  in  leading  me  first  of  all  to  your  door. 

22 


DAN  RELEASES  THE  ANIMALS 

And  now  we  will  take  the  cages  as  they 
come." 

So  Dan,  accompanied  by  Lion,  went  to  the 
gilded  home  of  Tiger;  then  the  three  of  them 
passed  on  to  that  occupied  by  Leopard — and 
so,  on  around  the  great  circle,  until  every  single 
one  of  the  animals  had  been  loosed  from  its 
cage.  With  Dan  in  the  lead,  they  formed  a 
long,  winding  line  and  then — the  serpentine 
entirely  complete — moved  forward,  for  all  the 
world  like  a  troupe  of  children  playing  at  lock 
step.  Round  and  round  they  marched,  swaying 
from  side  to  side  and  singing  at  the  very  tops 
of  their  voices,  with  Dan  tossing  his  head  from 
right  to  left,  like  the  drum-major  in  a  band,  and 
holding  out  the  sides  of  his  baggy  white  trous- 
ers, just  as  clowns  ofttimes  do  at  the  circus. 

But  after  the  strange  procession  had  paraded 
three  times  around  the  circle,  Dan  signaled  a 
halt. 

"No!  No!  Let's  do  it  some  more,"  pleaded 
all  the  animals.  And,  though  he  was  some- 
what out  of  breath,  Dan  gave  consent  and  off 
they  all  pranced  again,  making  more  of  a  din 
than  before.  But,  at  the  farther  end  of  the  great 

23 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

tent,  the  old  clown  clapped  his  hands  and  the 
long  line  stopped  in  its  tracks.  And  doffing 
his  round,  funny  hat,  Dan  saw  that  the  Petal 
Watch  was  all  but  closed. 

"Quick!  Quick!  There!  Into  your  cages 
or  we'll  all  be  caught!"  he  cried.  "Monkey, 
you  will  go  in  last  and,  meantime,  help  me 
close  all  the  doors." 

And,  with  Dan  scurrying  about  and  Monkey 
running  so  very  fast  that  he  fastened  two  doors 
to  the  old  clown's  one,  the  task  was  completed 
in  no  time  at  all. 

"Now,"  said  Dan,  after  Monkey  had  been 
tucked  away,  "I'll  say  good-by  till  to-morrow. 
And  then,  at  half-past  twilight,  I'll  come  again 
and  we'll  hold  a  great  meeting  and  lay  all 
manner  of  plans.  In  the  meantime,  remember, 
not  a  word  to  a  soul." 

"Not  a  word  to  a  soul,"  echoed  the  animals 
in  chorus. 

So,  swinging  his  hat  as  he  went,  Diggeldy 
Dan  danced  down  the  length  of  the  menagerie 
tent  and  then,  stopping  at  the  end  of  it  to  give 
a  last  wave  to  his  friends,  disappeared  in  the 
depths  of  the  dusk. 

24 


CHAPTER  IV 

IN  WHICH  THE  ANIMALS  ELECT  OFFICERS 

ON  as  fine  an  evening  as  one  might  wish 
for  and  at  exactly  seven   minutes  past 
half-past  twilight  by  the  Petal  Watch, 
Diggeldy  Dan  stood  in  the  very  center  of  the 
great  menagerie  tent,   while  before  him  were 
grouped  all  the  animals  of  Spangleland. 

Coming  from  their  cages  and  from  out  their 
corrals  or,  like  Elephant,  Zebra,  and  Camel, 
being  unhooked  from  their  chains  by  Monkey 
and  Dan,  they  had  arranged  themselves  much 
as  one  sees  them  pictured  in  great  atlases  or  on 
gayly  colored  posters,  but  never,  strangely 
enough,  at  the  circus  itself. 

In  the  front  row  sat  Puma,  Monkey,  Seal, 
Leopard,  Hyena,  and  Little  Black  Bear,  and 
all  their  families.  Next  in  order  came  Lion, 
Tiger,  Ostrich,  Great  White  Bear,  Deer,  Emu, 
Kangaroo,  and  their  families;  while,  ranged 

25 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

behind  these  were  Elephant,  Camel,  Hippo, 
Zebra,  and  Rhino,  and  their  different  cousins 
and  aunts,  with  Giraffe  and  his  folks  still  back 
of  them. 

There  they  sat,  chattering  and  laughing  and 
making  quite  as  much  of  a  clatter  as  people 
do  at  the  theater,  just  before  the  curtain  goes 
up. 

"Now,"  began  Dan,  pulling  his  hands  from 
his  pockets  and  clapping  them  together  for 
silence,  "it  seems  to  me  the  first  thing  to  do  is 
to  get  ourselves  organized." 

:*Yes,  yes,  that  is  it,"  answered  the  merry 
crew.  "Let's  do  that  very  thing!" 

"We  should  begin,  then,"  continued  Dan, 
"by  choosing  a  chairman.  Who,  say  you, 
shall  it  be?" 

At  this  all  the  animals  began  to  talk  at  once; 
but,  as  it  was  Tiger  who  seemed  to  be  making 
the  most  noise,  Dan  said  he  should  be  the  first 
to  speak. 

"Diggeldy  Dan  and  fellow  animals,"  said 
Tiger,  as  he  gravely  stroked  his  chin  with  a 
huge  paw,  "I  rise  to  name  one  who,  because  of 
the  very  place  that  he  has  long  held  among  us, 

26 


THE  ANIMALS  ELECT  OFFICERS 

is  especially  suited  to  the  office  of  chairman. 
One  who,  because  of  his  great  strength,  his 
fairness,  and  kindly  disposition,  has  long  been 
known  as  'the  King  of  Beasts.'  The  one  who — 
as  you  will  remember — was  the  very  first  to  be 
loosed  from  his  cage.  I,  of  course,  am  speaking 
of— Lion." 

"Hear!  Hear!"  came  from  all  sides.  "Lion, 
of  course!  Who  else  but  Lion!" 

"Let's  make  the  choice  unanimous,"  cried 
Rhino.  And  so,  somewhat  flustered,  but  by  no 
means  lacking  in  dignity,  and  escorted  by 
Great  White  Bear  and  Little  Black  Bear, 
Lion  came  forward  to  accept  the  office  to 
which  he  had  been  elected. 

"My  fellow  animals,"  he  said,  "realizing 
that  there  is  still  much  to  be  done,  I  will  be 
brief.  First,  let  me  thank  you  for  the  honor 
you  have  bestowed  upon  me  and  to  assure  you 
that  I  will  do  my  best  to  serve  you.  While 
appreciating  Tiger's  kindness  in  suggesting  me 
for  chairman,  I  cannot  but  feel  that  I  should 
differ  with  him  on  one  point — that  is,  with 
reference  to  the  title  'the  King  of  Beasts.' 
That  is  all  very  well  in  Jungleland,  perhaps, 

27 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

but  here  in  this  great  land  of  the  free— with 
even  ourselves  set  at  liberty — I  feel  that  the 
word  'king*  should  be  replaced  by  *  president.' 
I  believe  that — " 

But  here  cries  of,  "That's  right — Why,  of 
course — President  of  Beasts!"  and  the  like 
broke  in  upon  the  speaker,  and  the  point  was 
carried,  even  before  Lion  had  finished  his  argu- 
ment. 

"Now,  then,  Mr.  King — I  mean  Mr.  Pres- 
ident," said  Hippo,  who  had  been  holding  a 
quiet  consultation  with  the  animals  nearest 
him,  "it  would  seem  to  me  that  we  should  elect 
a  secretary  before  we  go  any  further,  so  that  an 
exact  record  may  be  kept  of  these  meetings 
and,  in  due  time,  sent  on  to  our  good  friend, 
Too-Bo-Tan." 

"A  very  commendable  thought,  indeed," 
assented  Lion.  "Nominations  are,  therefore, 
in  order  for  secretary." 

And,  at  this,  the  several  animals  who  had 
had  their  heads  together  with  Hippo  all 
jumped  to  their  feet  and  began  to  chant: 

"  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan, 
Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan!" 
28 


THE  ANIMALS  ELECT  OFFICERS 

"Why,  of  course,"  agreed  all  the  rest.  "Who 
else  but  Diggeldy  Dan!" 

"I'll  furnish  a  quill  for  the  pen,"  said 
Ostrich. 

"I  know  where  there's  an  old  circus  poster 
with  nothing  at  all  on  the  back,"  cried  Elephant, 
as  he  made  off  toward  the  end  of  the  tent. 

"I'll  offer  myself  for  a  table,"  volunteered 
Hippo. 

"And  I'll  supply  the  ink,"  said  Dan,  diving 
into  one  of  his  funny  deep  pockets  and  drawing 
forth  a  top,  some  chalk,  three  marbles,  and — 
last  of  all — a  bottle  of  very  red  ink. 

And  so,  almost  before  one  might  have  said 
Jack  Robinson,  there  sat  Diggeldy  Dan  astride 
Hippo's  back  with  the  poster  that  Elephant 
had  brought  spread  out  before  him,  the  quill 
that  Ostrich  had  furnished  grasped  firmly  in 
his  hand,  writing  away  for  all  he  was  worth, 
while  all  the  animals  crowded  around,  all  talk- 
ing at  once  and  each  trying  to  remember  just 
exactly  what  Tiger  had  said  when  he  had 
nominated  Lion  and  just  what  Lion  had  said 
when  he  spoke  in  reply. 

Of  course,  all  this  took  some  little  time  and, 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

indeed,  Dan  concluded  the  first  chapter  of  the 
interesting  document  with  one  eye  to  his  work 
and  the  other  on  the  Petal  Watch.  And,  just 
as  he  had  crossed  the  very  last  "t"  and  dotted 
the  very  last  "i"  the  great  white  flower  began, 
to  close.  At  the  first  sign  of  it,  away  scampered 
all  the  animals  to  their  cages  and  corrals  while 
Dan,  with  the  aid  of  Monkey,  having  locked 
all  the  doors  and  fastened  each  chain,  scurried 
off  to  make  ready  for  the  circus,  folding  the 
precious  poster  and  tucking  it  away  with  the 
Petal  Watch  as  he  ran. 

"To-morrow  at  half -past  twilight,"  he  cried 
in  farewell. 

"  To-morrow,"  answered  Lion,  from  the 
depths  of  his  cage,  while  from  all  parts  of  the 
tent  came  the  voices  that  echoed — "To-mor- 
row— to-morrow — to-morrow. ' ' 


30 


CHAPTER  V 

IN    WHICH    GIRAFFE    GIVES    A    CHALK-TALK    AND 
THE  ANIMALS  LEARN  A  NEW  GAME 

NOW  when  the  fourth  day  had  turned  to 
twilight  and   the  animals   of  Spangle- 
land  had  gathered  to  continue  the  meet- 
ing that  had  resulted  in  the  election  of  Lion  as 
President  of  Animals   and    Diggeldy    Dan   as 
Secretary,   Zebra   announced    that    he    had    a 
matter  of  much  importance  to  bring  to  their 
attention. 

"It  has  to  do  with  Giraffe  and  his  folks," 
began  Zebra,  as  he  bobbed  his  head  and  flopped 
his  long,  striped  ears  in  the  direction  of  those 
to  whom  he  referred.  "As  all  of  us  are  aware, 
neither  Giraffe  nor  any  of  his  ancestors  have 
ever  been  known  to  speak.  When  we  consider 
the  great  amount  of  talking  many  of  us  oft- 
times  do  without  really  saying  much,  I  am 
sometimes  of  the  opinion  that  our  big-eyed 

31 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

brothers  show  no  little  wisdom  by  preserving 
strict  silence.  Still  I  feel  that  Giraffe  and  his 
family  should  have  a  voice  in  our  different 
discussions,  if  they  so  desire,  and  think  it 
only  fair  that  they  be  consulted  as  to  their 
wishes." 

While  Zebra  had  been  speaking,  it  was 
noticed  that  Giraffe  had  been  all  attention  and, 
when  Lion  from  his  place  in  front  of  all  the 
animals,  asked  him  if  he  had  anything  to  say, 
he  nodded  most  positively. 

"Very  well,  then,  Giraffe;  we  will,  indeed, 
be  glad  to  hear  from  you,"  said  Lion,  as  he 
crossed  his  paws  and  leaned  back  in  an  attitude 
of  strict  attention. 

By  this  time,  all  the  eyes  of  all  the  animals 
were  on  Giraffe.  And  so  were  those  of  Dig- 
geldy  Dan,  who  sat  astride  Hippo,  the  circus 
poster  spread  out  before  him,  his  pen  poised  in 
mid-air,  ready  to  jot  down  any  and  all  things 
that  might  come  to  pass. 

And,  as  they  watched,  Giraffe  unfolded  his 
long,  lanky  legs  and,  for  all  the  world  like  two 
boys  on  two  pairs  of  tall  stilts,  made  his  way 
from  the  rear  of  the  group  and  walked  around 

32 


GIRAFFE  GIVES  A  CHALK-TALK 

to  the  side  of  Diggeldy  Dan.  Then,  bending 
his  mile-long  neck,  he  thrust  his  nose  into  the 
depths  of  Dan's  pocket. 

"Here,  here!"  cried  the  clown,  "there  are 
no  carrots  there!" 

"Silence,  Dan!"  commanded  Lion. 

Even  at  this  moment,  Giraffe  removed  his 
nose  and  there,  in  the  tips  of  his  lips,  was  the 
top  which,  as  you  may  remember,  the  clown 
had  drawn  out  when  he  brought  forth  the 
bottle  of  very  red  ink.  Down  went  the  top  on 
the  broad  back  of  Hippo  and  back  went 
Giraffe's  nose  in  the  pocket  of  Dan.  And, 
this  time,  the  searcher's  ears  began  to  wiggle 
with  delight  and  his  eyes  to  twinkle  with  glee. 
Fo*  when  his  nose  next  came  forth  there,  held 
tight  in  his  mouth,  was  a  piece  of  bright 
yellow  chalk. 

At  sight  of  it  a  puzzled  look  crossed  the 
faces  of  all  those  who  watched.  It  was  Lion 
who  first  caught  the  thought. 

"Why,  of  course!"  he  exclaimed,  with  a 
wise  nod  of  his  head.  "Giraffe  proposes  to 
talk  with  the  chalk." 

"With  the  chalk,  to  be  sure,"  agreed  Puma, 
33 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"and  I  know  where  there's  a  board.  The 
inner  side  of  the  strips  that  close  up  my  cage 
are  all  painted  black.  Come  on,  Elephant,  and 
we'll  get  one  right  now." 

So  away  the  two  of  them  went,  and  soon 
Elephant  was  holding  the  board  high  up  in 
his  trunk.  And,  as  he  held  it  in  place,  Giraffe 
wrote  with  the  chalk: 

"Very  thoughtful  of  you — Thanks — Heartily 
agree  with  all  done  thus  far — Giraffe." 

And,  putting  the  chalk  alongside  the  top, 
he  made  a  low  swinging  bow  with  his  long 
spotted  neck  and  hurried  off  to  his  place  at  the 
rear  of  the  group,  amid  the  shouts  and  the 
cheers  of  his  fellows. 

While  the  animals  were  cheering  or  telV^g 
one  another  just  what  each  had  been  thinkin^ 
when  Giraffe  was  rummaging  Dan's  pocket,  the 
old  clown's  pen  was  going  "scratch,  scratch, 
scratch"  back  and  forth  across  the  poster. 

"And  now,  Mr.  President,"  said  Dan,  as  he 
finished  writing  and  folded  up  the  great  sheet 
of  paper,  "I  suggest  that  we  forget  business 
for  a  time  and  engage  in  a  game  that  I  have 
in  mind." 

34 


. 


Away  they  all  went,  down  through  the  line.     Page  35. 


GIRAFFE  GIVES  A  CHALK-TALK 

"A  fine  idea,"  agreed  Lion  as,  indeed,  did  all 
the  rest  in  one  voice;  that  is,  all  but  Giraffe 
and  his  folks.  They  nodded  their  approval. 

"It's  a  game  called  *  London  Bridge  is 
Falling  Down,"  went  on  Dan.  "It  was 
Giraffe's  long  neck  and  Elephant's  trunk  that 
suggested  the  thought.  So  now,  suppose  we 
begin." 

:<Yes,  let's  begin,"  cried  the  animals,  as 
they  trooped  into  the  circle  that  ran  in  front  of 
all  the  red  and  gold  cages. 

"First,"  called  Dan,  "you,  Giraffe,  and  your 
folks  will  stand  opposite  one  another,  with 
your  noses  touching.  There!  That's  the  way. 
Now,  Elephant,  you  and  your  family  will  do 
the  same,  only  raise  your  trunks  very  high  and 
hold  them  together  at  the  tips — just  as  if  you 
were  shaking  hands  way  up  in  the  air.  That's 
it.  Fine!  Now  all  the  rest  of  us  will  go 
skipping  down  the  aisle  between  you." 

So  Dan,  taking  the  lead  and  calling,  "Come 
on,  Tiger!  Come  on,  Lion!  Hi  there,  Hippo," 
away  they  all  went,  down  through  the  line. 

"Now,  back  again!"  shouted  Dan,  "and 
this  is  the  song  that  we'll  sing  as  we  go: 

35 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"London  Bridge  is  falling  down, 
Falling  down,  falling  down, 
London  Bridge  is  falling  down, 
Down,  down,  down!" 

"Say!  Hold  on  a  minute!"  cried  Hippo. 
"I'm  too  wide!  I  can't  get  through !" 

"I'll  fix  that,"  shouted  Elephant.  "Up, 
now!"  he  commanded.  And  at  the  words, 
all  of  Elephant's  folks  stood  up  on  their  hind 
legs  and  Hippo  passed  through  without  any 
trouble  at  all.  So  the  game  went  on,  with  all 
the  animals  vowing  that  they  never  had  had 
quite  so  much  fun  before  in  all  their  lives. 

But,  by  this  time,  the  Petal  Watch  had 
begun  to  close;  and,  at  a  word  from  Dan  and 
the  promise  that  he  would  see  them  again  at 
half-past  twilight  on  the  morrow,  the  merry 
band  went  back  to  their  places.  As  the  old 
clown  passed  out  of  the  menagerie  tent,  he 
could  still  hear  the  voices  in  the  distance, 
humming  the  song, 

"London  Bridge  is  falling  down, 
Down,  down,  down!" 


36 


CHAPTER  VI 

IN    WHICH    THE    ANIMALS    SEND    A    MESSAGE    TO 
THE   PRETTY   LADY 


A 


ND  that,"  finished  Diggeldy  Dan,  "is 
the  story  of  the  Pretty  Lady  with 
the  Blue-Blue  Eyes." 
It  was  on  the  fifth  day  after  she  of  whom 
Dan  spoke  had  brought  him  the  message  from 
Too-Bo-Tan  and,  with  all  the  animals  of 
Spangleland  gathered  about  him,  the  old 
clown  had  been  telling  them  of  her  and  the 
blue  bird. 

"Yes,"  nodded  Camel,  "she  is  the  Fairy  of 
the  Circus.  I  have  heard  my  father  describe 
her." 

"But  I  like  the  other  name  best,"  spoke  up 
Seal.  "'The  Pretty  Lady  with  the  Blue-Blue 
Eyes!'  When  my  family  and  I  go  into  the 
great  white  tent  to  perform,  we  often  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  riders  as  they  pass  on  their 

37 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

way  from  the  rings.  They  are  much  like 
that — all  pretty  ladies  with  mounts  like  the 
White-White  Horse." 

"I  wish  we  could  see  her,"  mused  Leopard. 

"Let's  send  her  a  message,"  suggested 
Ostrich. 

"But  how?"  queried  Kangaroo.  "We've 
no  one  to  send  and,  even  if  we  had,  where  in 
the  world  should  we  send  him?" 

"Diggeldy  Dan,"  said  Lion,  "what  have 
you  to  suggest?" 

"Well,"  answered  Dan,  "I  know  this  much: 
and  that  is  that  the  Pretty  Lady  went  away 
toward  the  west.  I  like  to  believe  that  she 
makes  her  home  in  the  sunset." 

"Why,  if  that's  the  case,  then  that's  not 
far  from  here,"  broke  in  Elephant. 

Even  while  Elephant  was  speaking,  Giraffe 
came  forward  and  picked  up  the  chalk.  Then, 
striding  to  the  side  of  a  cage,  he  scrawled  on 
its  face: 

"Not  far  at  all — looking  through  eaves  space 
in  tent — this  very  evening — saw  sun  set  just 
back  of  hill — 'bout  a  mile  from  here. — Giraffe." 

"Not  more  than  a  mile!"  cried  Tiger, 

38 


THE  ANIMALS  SEND  A  MESSAGE 

"Only  a  mile!"  Then  he  paused  and  looked 
rather  foolish.  For  how  were  they  to  reach 
over  even  a  mile. 

"I  know,  I  know,  I  know!"  shouted  Monkey, 
dancing  up  and  down.  "Balloons,  balloons, 
balloons!  That's  the  way!  That's  the—" 

"Hold  on  there,  Monkey,"  interrupted  Lion. 
"Not  so  fast  and,  for  goodness'  sake,  don't  get 
so  excited.  Besides,  I,  for  one,  know  of  no 
balloons  in  this  vicinity." 

"No,  no,  I  don't  mean  truly  big  balloons," 
explained  Monkey.  "Wait  a  minute  and  I'll 
show  you!"  And  away  he  dashed  down  the 
menagerie  tent  and  was  back  in  a  twinkling, 
waving  a  great  cluster  of  toy  balloons  over  his 
head. 

"Monkey,"  admitted  Lion,  as  he  took  the 
balloons,  "I  must  confess  that  your  head  is 
ofttimes  much  longer  than  mine.  Of  course, 
you  mean — " 

"To  write  our  message,  tie  it  to  the  balloons 
and  get  the  east  wind  to  carry  it  over  the  hill 
to  the  place  where  Giraffe  saw  the  sun  go 
down,"  finished  Monkey. 

And  then  the  excitement  that  followed! 
39 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

The  writing  of  the  message  fell  to  Diggeldy 
Dan  and,  after  no  end  of  changes — all,  of 
course,  for  the  better — there  appeared  these 
words  written  on  a  corner  that  had  been  torn 
from  the  great  circus  poster: 

"Dear  Pretty  Lady  with  the  Blue-Blue  Eyes, 

At  Sunset  House,  just  over  the  hill: 

"We  all  want  you  to  visit  us.  We  all  promise  to  be 
very  quiet. 

"Please  come  at  half -past  twilight,  to-morrow. 

(Signed)  "Animals  of  Spangleland, 
"By:    Diggeldy    Dan,    Secretary. 

"P.  S. — Please  bring  back  the  balloons,  because  they 
are  just  borrowed. 

"P.    S.— The    White- White    Horse    is    invited,    too." 

The  message  completed,  Diggeldy  Dan  pro- 
duced a  piece  of  string  from  one  of  his  wonder- 
ful pockets  and,  aided  by  Monkey,  tied  all  the 
sticks  of  all  the  balloons  tightly  together  and 
then  fastened  the  letter  to  the  tip  of  the  sticks. 

"Now,  then,"  said  Lion,  "we  are  ready  to 
let  loose  the  balloons.  You,  Elephant,  take 
hold  of  the  sticks  with  your  trunk.  You, 
Puma,  will  leap  to  the  top  of  your  cage  and 

40 


THE  ANIMALS  SEND  A  MESSAGE 

hold  open  the  eaves  of  the  tent  with  your 
paws  so  that  Elephant  can  thrust  the  balloons 
through  the  space  and  hand  them  to  the  wind 
as  it  comes  out  of  the  east." 

"I  can  make  out  the  curve  of  a  hill  to  the 
west,'*  called  Puma,  who  had  jumped  from  the 
ground  to  the  roof  of  the  cage.  "Only  I  can't 
get  quite  high  enough  to  see  over  the  top." 

"I'll  be  the  lookout,"  cried  Monkey,  "that 
is,  if  Giraffe  will  lend  me  his  head  and  step 
over  near  the  eaves  of  the  tent."  And,  as 
Giraffe  nodded  assent,  up  the  long  neck  he 
scampered  and  was  soon  perched  aloft,  holding 
tight  with  both  hands  to  Giraffe's  pointed 
ears. 

"All  right,  up  there?"  called  Lion  from 
below. 

"All  ready,"  answered  Monkey,  "and  here 
comes  the  east  wind  around  the  side  of  the 
tent." 

"Cast  off,  then,  Elephant,"  commanded 
Lion.  "Let  go  the  balloons!" 

At  the  very  same  moment,  Elephant  gave  a 
great  "swish"  with  his  trunk  and  away  went 
the  balloons  through  the  space  at  the  eaves. 

41 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"There  they  go!"  shouted  Monkey.  "Up, 
up,  up!  Goodness,  how  they're  sailing!  Oh! 
they've  caught  in  a  tree!  No,  they  haven't! 
Now  the  east  wind  has  them  again !  Once  more 
they're  off!  They're  going  higher  and  higher! 
And  they're  bound  straight  for  the  hill!  Yes, 
straight  for  the  brow  of  the  hill!" 

And  so,  from  his  perch,  Monkey  described 
every  inch  of  the  flight  until,  to  the  great 
relief  of  the  animals  who  were  grouped  down 
below,  he  announced  that  the  balloons  had 
passed  over  the  hill. 

Indeed  the  word  came  in  good  time,  for 
just  then  there  followed  a  quick  shout  from 
Dan,  crying,  "Get  back  to  your  places  as  fast 
as  you  can!" 

Then  came  a  wild  scurrying  to  right  and  to 
left. 

"Now,  I'll  bid  you  good  night,"  said  Dig- 
geldy  Dan,  when  the  very  last  door  had  been 
locked.  "And  to-morrow  we'll  learn  if  we 
were  right  when  we  guessed  that  the  one  we 
have  written  makes  her  home  in  the  west." 


CHAPTER  VII 

IN  WHICH  THE  ANIMALS  MEET  WITH  A  DIS- 
APPOINTMENT AND  A  SURPRISE  AND  A  STORY 
IS  BEGUN 

NOW,    had    the    keepers    who    slept    so 
soundly  at   the  foot   of   the  big   blue 
poles  in  the  great  menagerie  tent  sud- 
denly wakened  at  a  little  after  half-past  twi- 
light on  the  evening  following  that  which  saw 
the  balloons  go  sailing  over  the  hill,  they  no 
doubt  would  have  rubbed  their  eyes,  pinched 
themselves  and  then  exclaimed: 

"Well,  of  all  things!  Wherever  can  those 
animals  be?" 

But,  of  course,  they  did  nothing  of  the  kind, 
for  the  very  good  reason  that  not  a  single  one 
of  them  so  much  as  opened  one  eye.  Though, 
if  they  had,  where  do  you  suppose  they  would 
have  found  all  their  charges?  Away  over 
behind  the  red  and  gold  cages. 

43 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

Yes,  there  they  stood,  side  by  side  in  a  row, 
their  noses  pressed  close  against  the  west 
wall  of  the  tent,  looking  for  all  the  world  like 
so  many  "catchers"  in  a  game  of  hide-and-go- 
seek.  And  Diggeldy  Dan  was  there,  too.  All 
had  found  peep-holes  in  the  canvas  and 
through  these  they  peered  eagerly  in  the 
direction  of  Sunset  House.  They  were  watch- 
ing for  the  Lady  with  the  Blue-Blue  Eyes. 

"Every  one  to  his  place,5*  Lion  had  com- 
manded, when  the  merry  crew  had  been  loosed, 
but  a  few  moments  before.  "And  then  we 
will  see  who  will  be  the  first  to  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  one  who  will  ride  out  of  the  west.  Not 
a  word  from  a  soul,  until  she  comes  into  view." 

At  first  it  was  fun,  but,  as  the  minutes 
dragged  by  and  no  movement  was  seen,  the 
watchers  began  to  grow  restless.  Seal  started 
to  twist  and  to  turn.  Next,  Puma's  tail  was 
seen  to  curl  and  to  wave;  while  Zebra  switched 
his  with  quick  little  jerks.  Then  Hippo  heaved 
a  great  sigh  that  must  surely  have  been  heard 
a  whole  mile  away.  Finally,  Monkey,  who 
was  never  known  to  keep  entirely  quiet,  could 
stand  it  no  longer. 

44 


A  DISAPPOINTMENT,  A  SURPRISE,  A  STORY 

"Lion,"  he  whispered. 

No  answer. 

"Lion,"  repeated  Monkey. 

"Well,  what  is  it?"  answered  Lion  at  last, 
from  his  place  near  the  middle  of  the  line. 

"I — I    don't    want   to   watch    any    longer." 

"Have  patience  and  be  quiet,  sir,"  ordered 
Lion. 

So  the  watch  went  on.  A  minute  passed, 
and  another,  and  another.  Then  something 
went,  "Bang!" 

"What  was  that?"  demanded  Lion. 

"I — I  was  standing  on  my  tail  and — and 
went  to  sleep,"  answered  Kangaroo,  in  a  very 
sheepish  voice.  "I — I  fell  down  and  bumped 
my  head  against  Rhino's  cage." 

"And  it  was  newly  varnished  but  yesterday," 
muttered  Rhino. 

Then  Monkey  giggled  and  that  set  Hyena  to 
laughing  until  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks. 
Even  Lion  was  obliged  to  smile  though,  a 
moment  later,  his  face  took  on  a  very  serious 
look. 

"Perhaps  we  have  waited  long  enough," 
he  admitted,  rather  sadly.  "I  fear  something 

45 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

must  have  happened.  What  do  you  think, 
Diggeldy  Dan?" 

"I  don't  know  just  what  to  say,  Lion," 
answered  Dan.  "You  see,  I  was  quite  sure 
the  Pretty  Lady  made  her  home  in  the  west. 
It  is  all  my  fault.  I  am  very  sorry." 

"There,  there,"  said  Lion,  as  he  placed  a 
paw  on  the  old  clown's  shoulder.  "Surely, 
none  of  us  would  think  of  blaming  you, 
Dan." 

"So  come,"  he  called  out  to  the  rest,  "let 
us  go  to  the  center  of  the  tent;  for  we  will 
watch  no  longer  to-day." 

Once  they  knew  they  might  leave  their 
places,  the  animals  were  less  eager  to  do  so. 
For  they  suddenly  realized  how  disappointed 
they  were  now  that  they  were  not  to  see  the 
Pretty  Lady  with  the  Blue-Blue  Eyes. 

"Now,"  began  Lion,  after  all  had  been 
seated,  and  doing  his  best  to  speak  gayly, 
"I  suggest  that  we — " 

But  what  it  was  Lion  had  in  mind  no  one 
ever  came  to  know;  for,  just  at  that  moment, 
he  was  interrupted  by  a  pattering  shower  of 
silvery  rain!  The  shimmering  flecks  fell  every- 

46 


A  DISAPPOINTMENT,  A  SURPRISE,  A  STORY 

where,  round  the  animals,  on  their  heads  and 
on  their  backs. 

"What  in  the  world  is  this?"  exclaimed 
Lion. 

"Why,  they're  spangles!"  cried  Elephant, 
who  had  picked  up  some  of  the  bits  with  the 
tip  of  his  trunk. 

"Spangles,  sure  enough,"  agreed  Diggeldy 
Dan,  "though  I  never  saw  any  as  bright  nor 
have  I  ever  known  spangles  to  come  out  of  the 
sky." 

"But  they  can't  have  come  from  the  sky," 
reasoned  Tiger;  "for  how  could  they  have 
passed  through  the  roof  of  the  tent?" 

Then,  as  if  to  prove  Tiger  wrong,  there 
came  a  second  and  even  greater  shower  than 
before.  This  time  there  were  so  many  spangles 
that  they  fairly  tinkled  as  they  fell,  while 
mingling  with  their  tinkling  was  a  rippling 
laugh  that  sounded  like  silver  bells  played  all 
in  a  row.  And,  of  all  marvelous  things,  the 
voice  came  from  the  depths  of  the  great  red 
and  golden  home  that  belonged  to  Giraffe! 

Instantly,  all  eyes  were  turned  toward  the 
house  on  the  wheels.  At  the  very  same 

47 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

moment  its  doors  swung  apart  and  there, 
framed  by  the  opening,  stood  the  Pretty  Lady 
with  the  Blue-Blue  Eyes! 

Even  as  the  animals  stared  in  open-mouthed 
wonder,  their  golden-haired  visitor  threw  back 
her  head  and  laughed  until  from  her  eyes 
came  tears,  as  glistening  as  the  spangles  that 
dotted  the  ground.  Then  she  stopped  quite  as 
suddenly  as  she  had  begun,  and,  putting  her 
left  foot  behind  her  and  the  tip  of  one  finger  to 
the  tip  of  her  chin,  made  so  graceful  a  courtesy 
that  all  the  animals  found  themselves  trying  to 
do  the  very  same  thing,  though  it  must  be 
confessed  that  some  of  them  made  a  rather 
awkward  job  of  it. 

As  for  Diggeldy  Dan,  he  made  the  very 
grandest  bow  that  any  clown  ever  made, 
while,  taking  his  cue  from  Dan,  Lion  put  one 
paw  to  his  heart  and  said  in  very  solemn 
tones : 

"Dear  Lady,  we  one  and  all  bid  you  wel- 
come, though  how  you  got  here  we  are  at  an 
entire  loss  to  know." 

"Why,"  answered  the  Pretty  Lady,  as  she 
tripped  from  the  doorway  to  where  Lion  stood, 

48 


A  DISAPPOINTMENT,  A  SURPRISE,  A  STORY 

"I  came  in  under  the  wall  near  the  end.  I 
went  right  past  your  nose,  Kangaroo;  in  fact, 
I  think  you  were  napping." 

And,  at  that,  you  may  be  sure  a  certain 
animal  looked  very  foolish. 

"Then,"  she  continued,  "I  hid  in  Giraffe's 
house  and,  after  you  were  seated,  began  tossing 
spangles  through  the  window  near  the  top. 
You  see  I  always  carry  a  bag  of  them  that  I 
may  sprinkle  the  sunset  whenever  I  pass." 

"So  you  do  live  at  Sunset  House,"  said 
Diggeldy  Dan. 

"Just  over  the  hill,  where  the  sky  turns  to 
pink.  The  balloons  and  the  message  came  in 
through  my  window  last  night." 

"Goodness!  You  didn't  forget  to  bring 
them  back,  did  you?" 

"Monkey!"  cried  Lion  reprovingly,  for  you 
might  have  guessed  who  had  spoken. 

But  the  Lady  only  laughed  at  the  question. 

"Indeed,  I  did  not,"  she  replied;  and  with 
that  she  gave  three  quick  claps  with  her  hands, 
while  from  somewhere  in  galloped  the  White- 
White  Horse.  And  there,  clasped  to  a  buckle 
of  his  snowy  trappings,  were  the  balloons  that 

49 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

had  gone  over  the  hill.  Soon  they  were  taken 
to  where  Monkey  had  found  them;  but,  alas, 
the  next  moment  the  Lady  had  leaped  to  her 
place  and  was  gone  down  the  tent  like  a  shot! 

"No,  no!"  cried  all  the  animals.  "Please, 
please  don't  go  away." 

"Oh,  please  don't,"  wailed  Monkey.  "I 
didn't  mean  to  be  rude  when  I  asked  about 
the  balloons." 

"I'm  not  going  away,"  the  Lady  laughed 
back.  "I'm  just  combing  my  hair,  and  the 
mane  and  the  tail  of  my  White- White  Horse." 

And  around  the  great  circle  the  two  of  them 
sped;  then  stopped  in  front  of  the  animals  again. 

"You  see,"  said  the  Lady,  as  she  tossed 
back  her  curls,  "combs  and  brushes  are  so 
much  bother  that  we  never  carry  them,  but 
just  let  the  rush  of  the  wind  take  their  place. 
But  now  that  is  done,  pray  tell  me  why  you 
sent  for  me  and  what  I'm  to  do?" 

"Tell  us  a  story,"  cried  Ostrich. 

"About  Too-Bo-Tan,"  suggested  Little  Black 
Bear. 

"Yes,  yes!"  chimed  all  the  rest,  "about 
Too-Bo-Tan." 

50 


A  DISAPPOINTMENT,  A  SURPRISE,  A  STORY 

"Very  well,"  nodded  the  Lady;  and,  leaning 
forward  on  the  back  of  the  White- White 
Horse,  with  her  chin  cupped  in  one  hand,  she 
began : 

"Many  years  ago — so  very  many  that  there 
are  not  enough  stripes  on  Zebra's  sides,  nor  yet 
on  his  ears,  to  count  them — there  lived  in  far- 
away Jungleland  a  very  wise  monkey,  named 
Vargu.  In  those  days  the  different  animals 
mingled  not  at  all,  each  being  content  to  keep 
solely  to  the  company  of  his  very  own  kind. 
Now,  one  day,  this  monkey  named  Vargu  was 
seated  in  the  fork  of  a  tree,  quite  lost  in  deep 
thought,  when  a  leopard  trotted  by  under- 
neath. Spying  the  leopard — " 

"Pretty  Lady,  Pretty  Lady,"  Diggeldy  Dan 
interrupted. 

"Dan!"  cried  Lion. 

"But  the  Watch,  the  Petal  Watch— it's 
closing!"  answered  the  clown  in  despair. 

"Goodness,  so  it  is,"  echoed  the  Lady. 
"But  you  shall  not  miss  the  story,  for  I  will 
come  again  on  the  morrow.  With  the  twilight 
I'll  come — until  then  fare  you  well." 

And  with  that  she  was  gone  like  a  flash 
51 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

through  the  dusk,  while  the  animals  all  hurried 
back  to  their  places,  each  wondering  what  it 
was  they  were  to  hear  the  next  day  of  the  very 
wise  monkey  named  Vargu. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


HIDDEN  away  in  the  folds  of  that 
mantle  called  twilight  which,  as  every 
one  knows,  is  laid  over  the  earth  with 
every  setting  of  the  sun,  is  a  wee  little  hour 
that  is  fairly  made  for  the  telling  of  stories. 
And  to  those  of  Spangleland  who  know  how 
to  find  it — though  none  save  they  who  possess 
the  Petal  Watch  will  ever  learn  how — there 
is  a  very  minute  which  marks  the  beginning  of 
half-past  twilight.  And  that  is  the  best  time  of 
all. 

With  its  coming  the  blue  of  the  tent-poles 
seems  to  grow  a  shade  softer  and  the  great, 
rope-fretted  roof  and  the  lazy,  breeze-wafted 
walls  melt  from  white  into  gray.  It  is  then 
that  the  red  and  gold  cages  slyly  gleam  from 
their  places  in  the  circle  they  form,  and,  most 

53 


wonderful  of  all,  then  that  every  door  opens, 
thanks  to  good  Too-Bo-Tan. 

And  on  this  particular  evening  of  which  you 
are  to  hear,  you  may  be  sure  that  the  funny 
old  clown  in  the  polka-dot  suit — that's  Dig- 
geldy  Dan — and  the  chattering  brown  fellow 
with  the  twinkling  brown  eyes — Monkey,  of 
course — had  loosed  all  the  animals  much  faster 
than  ever  before.  The  reason?  You've  guessed 
it — the  promised  story  from  the  Pretty  Lady 
with  the  Blue-Blue  Eyes. 

Hardly  had  the  animals  taken  their  places, 
when  there  came  the  sound  of  hoof-beats 
mingling  with  the  laugh  that  was  so  like  to 
tinkle  bells,  and  into  the  circle  galloped  the 
White- White  Horse,  bearing  the  one  for  whom 
they  all  waited. 

"A  merry  twilight!"  she  cried,  as  the  two 
came  to  a  stop  in  front  of  the  group. 

"A  merry  twilight  to  you,"  answered  Lion; 
and  then  all  the  rest  added  their  voices  in 
greeting  while  Dan,  skipping  to  the  side  of  the 
White- White  Horse,  offered  his  round,  pointed 
hat  as  a  cup  to  receive  the  Pretty  Lady's  foot 
that  he  might  assist  her  to  alight.  This  she 

54 


THE  LADY  CONTINUES  HER  STORY 

accepted  as  quick  as  a  wink  and,  tossing  her 
slim,  little  whip  and  the  bag  with  the  spangles 
to  the  broad  back  of  Hippo,  made  a  quick 
little  run  and  a  quick  little  bound,  twitched 
her  toetips  together  just  as  riders  always  do  at 
the  circus,  and  then  ran  straight  to  the  seat  in 
the  midst  of  the  animals. 

"Now,"  said  she,  "if  you  will  pay  the 
strictest  attention,  I'll  go  on  with  the  story. 
But,  first,  who  will  tell  me  just  how  it  began?" 

At  this  all  the  animals  talked  at  one  time 
and  there  arose  such  a  din  that  the  Pretty 
Lady  put  her  two  hands  to  her  ears  in  direst 
despair. 

"Order!  Order!"  shouted  Lion.  "Gracious, 
what  a  racket!  Giraffe,  since  you  were  the 
only  one  who  remained  silent,  you  may  tell  us 
the  first  part  of  the  tale." 

So  Giraffe  took  the  chalk  and,  going  to  the 
side  of  his  house,  wrote  these  words: 

"Many  years  ago — that  time  animals  mixed 
with  own  folks  only — wTise  monkey — Vargu  by 
name — thinking — in  tree — Leopard  passes  under- 
neath— Signed :  Giraffe. ' ' 

"Exactly,"  cried  the  Lady.  "You  see,  the 
55 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

very  wise  monkey  named  Vargu  had  been 
sitting  there  wondering  why  it  was  that  the 
different  kinds  of  animals  could  not  be  more 
sociable.  So,  when  the  leopard  came  in  sight, 
what  do  you  suppose  Vargu  did?  A  most 
unheard  of  and  a  most  daring  thing — he  spoke 
to  him!  Now  at  first  the  leopard,  whose  name 
was  Soft  Foot,  could  not  believe  his  ears,  so  he 
kept  straight  on  his  way.  But  Vargu  was 
determined.  He  spoke  once  again.  And  with 
that,  the  leopard  stopped  full  in  his  tracks  and 
gazed  at  the  monkey  in  utter  amazement. 

'Why,  what  does  this  mean!'  he  called  up 
to  the  other.  'You  cannot  speak  to  me.  You 
are  a  monkey.' 

"Ah,'  answered  Vargu,  'but  I  can  speak  to 
you  even  if  I  am  a  monkey.  And,  if  you  don't 
believe  it,  just  listen  to  this:  Hello,  Mister 
Leopard!  Hello!  Hello!  Hello!'  And,  with 
that,  he  went  scampering  to  the  very  top  of 
the  tree. 

"For  a  moment  Soft  Foot  made  as  if  to 
spring  into  the  tree.  But  he  finally  contented 
himself  with  blinking  his  eyes  in  a  dazed  sort 
of  way,  and  then  making  off  through  the  maze 

56 


THE  LADY  CONTINUES  HER  STORY 

of  the  grass,  shaking  his  head  as  he  went. 
Yet,  try  as  he  would,  he  could  not  forget  what 
had  happened.  He  thought  of  it  as  he  was 
going  to  sleep  and  he  thought  of  it  when  he 
wakened.  Then  curiosity  got  the  better  of 
him  and  the  next  afternoon  found  him  trotting 
along  beneath  the  very  same  tree.  And  there, 
as  before,  sat  the  monkey  called  Vargu. 

"Hi  there,  Mister  Leopard;  glad  to  see  you 
again,'  shouted  the  monkey  from  his  place  up 
above.  *  Better  stop  and  visit  a  while.  I 
know  a  mighty  fine  story.' 

"I  don't  want  to  hear  it,'  snarled  Soft 
Foot.  'Besides,  as  I  warned  you  yesterday, 
leopards  and  monkeys  can't  speak  to  one 
another.  Leopards  talk  to  leopards  and  that's 
enough.'  And  away  he  went  through  the 
grass. 

"Now,  that  very  same  night,  when  all  the 
leopards  were  gathered  together,  Great  Spot, 
the  biggest  of  them  all,  began  to  tell  one  of  his 
stories.  Some  of  the  baby  leopards  were 
interested,  but  as  for  Soft  Foot,  he  had  heard 
the  tale  so  many  times  that  he  knew  it  by 
heart.  So,  putting  his  nose  between  his  paws, 

57 


he  lay  with  his  thoughts  far  away.  He  was 
thinking  of  the  monkey  who  lived  in  the  tree. 
'He  wanted  to  tell  me  a  story,'  mused  Soft 
Foot.  'I  wonder  what  it  was  about/ 

"And  so,  though  leopards  never,  never  had 
anything  to  do  with  any  animals  except  their 
very  own  kind,  it  somehow  happened  that  the 
following  evening  found  Soft  Foot  trotting 
along  under  the  same  tree  again. 

"There  sat  the  monkey  but,  to  Soft  Foot's 
surprise,  he  spoke  not  a  word.  So  the  leopard 
moved  on  to  the  deep  grass  beyond.  But, 
after  a  moment,  he  walked  back  again.  And 
still  the  monkey  uttered  never  a  sound.  For  a 
third  time  he  passed  and  then  Soft  Foot  could 
stand  the  silence  no  longer. 

'Well,'  he  blurted,  'aren't  you  going  to  say 
anything? ' 

"Now,  at  this  precise  moment  the  monkey 
called  Vargu  did  a  far  more  daring  thing  than 
he  had  done  when  he  first  spoke  to  Soft  Foot. 
He  made  a  great  swing  from  the  branch  where 
he  sat  and  landed  plump  under  his  visitor's 
nose!  With  a  start  of  surprise,  the  leopard 
crouched  back  and  for  a  moment  he  made  as 

58 


•  ¥.*?#wmffi 


Then  he  picked  up  his  left  foot  and  began  to  use  its  toes 
for  counters."     Page  59. 


THE  LADY  CONTINUES  HER  STORY 

if  he  were  going  to  leap  off  through  the  grass. 
Had  he  done  so,  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  what 
might  have  come  of  this  tale.  Indeed,  I'm 
afraid  there  might  have  been  none  to  tell.  For 
who  knows  but  what,  failing  at  this  very  time, 
Vargu  might  never  have  accomplished  his 
plan.  But,  without  so  much  as  moving  one 
inch  from  the  point  he  had  reached  on  the 
ground  when  he  swung,  he  calmly  sat  down 
and  at  once  began  to  count  on  his  toes. 

" One,  two,  three,  four,  five,  six,  seven' 
(long  breath)  '  eight,  nine,  ten — Dear  me! 
I  wonder  if  I'm  going  to  have  enough/ 
exclaimed  he  to  himself,  just  as  if  there 
wasn't  another  animal  for  miles  and  miles 
around.  Then  he  picked  up  his  left  foot  and 
began  to  use  its  toes  for  counters  all  over 
again. 

"By  this  time  Soft  Foot  had  quite  swallowed 
his  snarl  and,  if  he  had  been  a  house-cat 
instead  of  a  leopard,  there  is  no  telling  what 
might  have  happened  to  him.  For  he  was 
simply  overcome  with  curiosity. 

"Eleven,  twelve,  thirteen,  fourteen,'  con- 
tinued Vargu. 

59 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"'For  goodness'  sake,  fourteen  what!'  broke 
in  Soft  Foot. 

"'Why,'  answered  Vargu,  looking  up,  'stories, 
of  course.  Fifteen,  sixteen — ' 

"'Do  you  mean  to  say  you  known  that 
many  stories?'  demanded  the  leopard,  again 
interrupting. 

'"Of  course  I  do,'  replied  the  other,  'but, 
since  leopards  can't  talk  to  monkeys,  you 
wouldn't  be  interested.  Nineteen,  twenty — ' 

"'But  I  am  interested,'  protested  Soft  Foot. 

"'Of  course  you  are,'  said  Vargu  as  he 
dropped  his  foot  and  ceased  counting,  'and  I 
know  that  you  know  a  whole  lot  of  tales  in 
which  I  would  be  interested.  More  than  that, 
we  both  know  that  all  the  different  kinds  of 
animals  know  stories  that  they  might  tell  one 
another,  if  they  only  would;  and  be  a  lot 
happier  and  a  lot  more  sociable  as  a  result. 
So,  why  in  the  world  don't  we  all  get  ac- 
quainted and  be  friends?' 

'"We  just  can't,'  answered  Soft  Foot.  'It 
isn't  done.' 

"'But  we  two  are  doing  it,  aren't  we?' 

"'Y — es,'  admitted  the  other  slowly. 

60 


THE  LADY  CONTINUES  HER  STORY 

'Well,'  argued  Vargu,  'what  we  two  can  do 
all  the  animals  can  do,  if  they  only  will.  And 
I  have  a  plan  that  I  am  sure  will  succeed. 
What  do  you  say — will  you  help  me?' 

"The  leopard  sat  thinking  for  fully  a  minute. 
Then  he  walked  up  and  down  several  times 
beneath  the  tree. 

"Aw,  come  on,'  coaxed  Vargu. 

"'There's  my  paw  on  it,  monkey,'  the  other 
said  finally.  'My  name's  Soft  Foot.' 

"'Mine's  Vargu,'  the  monkey  answered  glee- 
fully, 'V-a-r-g-u  with  the  u  silent,  please.  And 
now  suppose  we  climb  into  the  tree  so  we  can 
talk  undisturbed. 


61 


CHAPTER  IX 

IN    WHICH    THE    PRETTY    LADY    CONCLUDES    HER 

STORY 

ONCE  seated  above,  each  told  the  other 
his  favorite  story  and,  these  being  fin- 
ished, the   leopard    asked    to  hear    of 
Vargu's  secret  plan. 

'You  shall  have  it  at  once,'  the  other 
declared.  And  with  that  he  sounded  a  soft, 
signaling  note,  while  from  somewhere  appeared 
a  solemn-eyed  monkey  who  was  almost  the 
image  of  Vargu. 

'This/  said  the  latter,  'is  my  son,  Too- 
Bo-Tan.' 

"Pleased  to  meet  you,'  said  Soft  Foot 
admiringly.  'A  mighty  fine  lad,  sure  enough.' 
'Yes,'  agreed  Vargu,  with  some  pride  in 
his  tone,  'and,  even  though  I  say  it  who 
shouldn't,  the  very  nimblest  monkey  in  all 
Jungleland.  Indeed,  that  is  why  I  have  made 

62 


THE  LADY  CONCLUDES  HER  STORY 

Too-Bo  a  part  of  the  plan.  So  now,  if  you'll 
both  draw  as  close  as  ever  you  can,  I'll  tell 
you  what  we're  to  do.' 

"Just  what  was  said,  I'm  sure  I  don't  know. 
But  there  was  no  end  of  whispering,  all  of 
which  argued  that  some  deep  dark  plan  was 
afoot  that,  doubtless,  would  be  made  known  in 
good  time. 

"Now,  on  the  following  night,"  the  Pretty 
Lady  continued,  "a  very  odd  thing  came  to 
pass.  For,  from  the  tops  of  the  trees  in  many 
parts  of  Jungleland,  sounded  a  weird,  mournful 
voice  crying  these  words: 

"  Great  rock  near  the  desert's  edge — great 
rock  near  the  desert's  edge — rock — rock — 
rock!' 

"All  the  animals  heard  the  strange  cry  and 
some  sprang  into  the  trees  to  learn  who  had 
made  it.  But,  by  the  time  they  had  done  so, 
the  voice  was  far,  far  away,  repeating  the 
words  like  an  echo. 

"On  the  very  next  night,  and  at  the  very 
same  hour,  the  cry  came  again.  With  the 
speed  of  the  wind  it  passed  through  the  trees, 
wailing: 

63 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"  Great  rock  near  the  desert's  edge — watch 
the  hole  in  its  face — hole  in  its  face — face — 
face — face ! ' 

"Following  this  second  message  there  was 
no  other  topic  in  all  Jungleland.  The  different 
families  discussed  it  for  hours;  but  not  even 
the  wisdom  of  Black  Mane,  the  mightiest  of 
all  the  lions,  could  solve  the  riddle.  Of  course, 
all  knew  of  the  rock — a  huge  wall  of  stone 
with  a  face  as  smooth  as  our  own  Hippo's 
back.  Some  sent  scouts  to  examine  it.  All 
returned  with  the  very  same  word — there  was 
not  a  sign  of  a  hole  to  be  found. 

"Now,  on  the  third  night,  the  mysterious 
voice  came  again.  It  was  here,  there — every- 
where at  once  so  it  seemed.  And,  as  it  passed 
on  its  way,  these  words  were  framed  by  its  cry: 

"Rock  near  the  desert's  edge — watch  the 
hole  in  its  face  at  midnight  to-night — at  mid- 
night to-night — to-night — to-night — to-night ! ' 

"Excitement  was  everywhere.  Jungleland 
resounded  with  the  cries  of  animal  chiefs, 
calling  their  followers  about  them.  And, 
forming  into  bands,  each  separate  group  began 
moving  toward  the  great  rock.  Out  of  the 

64 


THE  LADY  CONCLUDES  HER  STORY 

forests  and  from  the  waste  places  they  came — 
in  herds,  in  troupes  and  in  pairs.  But  each 
kind  kept  to  itself  and,  reaching  the  ground 
that  stretched  from  the  foot  of  the  cliff, 
remained  as  far  apart  from  the  others  as  the 
width  of  the  plain  would  allow. 

"The  moon  was  on  high  and  there  were 
millions  of  stars.  Yet,  though  these  lighted 
the  side  of  the  rock,  there  was  not  a  trace  of  a 
hole  to  be  seen.  Still,  it  was  not  yet  midnight; 
so,  with  eyes  fixed  on  the  cliff,  the  strange 
gathering  awaited  some  sign.  And,  on  the 
very  minute,  it  came! 

:'Yes,  something  was  about  to  take  place. 
First,  every  ear  heard  a  deep,  muffled  sound — 
like  a  drum  that  is  played  far  away.  Next,  a 
wee  stream  of  sand  began  to  trickle  down  the 
face  of  the  rock;  then  a  rattling  of  pebbles  and 
still  larger  stones;  while,  high  up,  near  the 
top  of  the  cliff,  there  gradually  appeared  an 
opening  as  round  and  as  big  as  Elephant's 
foot. 

"Not  an  animal  dared  breathe!  Every  eye 
was  alert — every  muscle  grew  tense.  Then, 
from  the  very  heart  of  the  rock  and  out 

65 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

through  the  hole,  came  a  voice  that  was  almost 
like  thunder. 

"'Who  wants  to  hear  a  story?'  it  roared. 

"But  not  one  of  the  watchers  made  answer. 
'Who  wants  to  hear  a  story?'  roared  the 
voice  once  again. 

"Then  Great  Spot,  the  leopard,  took  heart. 

"'We  do,' he  replied. 

'We,  also,'  called  Black  Mane,  while  soon, 
from  all  sides,  came  voices  crying  the  same. 
;'Then    harken,    one   and   all,'    roared   the 
voice  from  the  rock. 

"Now,  what  the  story  was  about  need  not 
concern  us  just  now,"  continued  the  Lady. 
"But  there  was  a  story — and  oh,  such  an 
interesting  one.  At  times  the  listeners  nudged 
one  another  with  delight,  while  the  younger 
animals  found  themselves  exchanging  knowing 
glances  with  those  they  had  never  so  much  as 
noticed  before.  But,  as  is  often  the  contrary 
way  of  those  who  tell  tales,  the  voice  that  told 
this  one  suddenly  stopped  at  the  most  exciting 
point  in  the  story. 

'Tell  us  the  rest,'  rose  the  cry  from  the 
plain. 

66 


THE  LADY  CONCLUDES  HER  STORY 

:<  To-morrow,  at  midnight,'  roared  the  face 
of  the  cliff.  'Come  then,  if  you'd  hear  the 
end  of  the  tale.' 

"Now  you  may  be  sure  that  the  following 
night  found  all  at  the  foot  of  the  great  rock 
again.  They  were  gathered  together  a  full 
hour  before  midnight  and  some  spent  the  time 
retelling  the  story.  But  not  all  told  it  alike, 
and  soon — of  all  unheard-of  things — animals 
who  had  never  spoken  to  one  another  in  all 
their  days  found  themselves  appealing  to 
know  if  this  or  that  were  not  the  way  the  tale 
had  been  told.  Even  as  they  debated,  there 
came  a  roar  from  the  cliff  and  the  unseen  one 
went  on  with  the  story.  In  time  it  was  finished 
and  the  great  voice  was  stilled. 

;<Tell  us  another,'  cried  all  the  animals 
from  their  place  on  the  plain. 

"But  plead  as  they  would,  the  voice  came 
no  more.  And,  strangely  enough,  they  never 
heard  it  again.  They  returned  to  the  plain  the 
very  next  night,  but  the  hole  in  the  great 
rock  had  been  closed.  They  waited  until  long 
after  midnight — but  not  one  single  sound  came 
to  greet  them.  Never  had  there  been  such  a 

67 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

mystery  and  it  was  talked  of  for  hours  upon 
hours  and  days  upon  days.  Time  after  time 
the  animals  came  to  the  great  rock  and, 
always,  in  quest  of  the  voice  that  was  stilled. 
As  they  lingered,  night  after  night,  in  the  hope 
that  it  might  come  again,  the  various  animals 
told  their  own  favorite  stories.  And  then, 
little  by  little,  the  different  ones  began  listening 
to  those  that  yet  others  told.  This  made  for 
friendships  and,  one  memorable  night,  a  certain 
monkey  made  bold  to  suggest  that  at  least 
once  every  week  some  particular  animal  be 
selected  to  tell  one  story  to  all.  The  thought 
was  approved  and  so,  as  time  passed  along, 
this  trysting  place  came  to  be  known  by  a 
name  that  is  loved  by  every  animal  in  Jungle- 
land.  And  what,  do  you  suppose,  is  it  called?" 

"The   Story-Time   Rock,"    spoke   up   Lion. 

"Why,  yes!"  answered  the  Pretty  Lady. 
"But  how  did  you  know,  Lion?" 

"I've  heard  my  grandfather  tell  of  it.  But 
he  always  finished  by  saying  there  were  none 
who  ever  solved  the  mystery  of  the  voice  that 
was  stilled." 

"No,  no  one  ever  did,"  said  the  Lady. 

68 


THE  LADY  CONCLUDES  HER  STORY 

"Yet,  like  so  many  things  that  are  thought  to 
be  mysteries,  it  was  really  simple  enough." 

"Then,  for  goodness'  sake,  tell  us  the 
secret!"  cried  Monkey,  "for  I'm  just  bursting 
to  know." 

"Why,  it  was  like  this:  Long  before  Vargu— 

"The  Watch!  The  Watch!  The  Petal 
Watch!'"  broke  in  Diggeldy  Dan.  "A  thou- 
sand pardons,  Pretty  Lady,  but  it's  almost 
closed!" 

"So  it  is,"  cried  she,  jumping  to  her  feet. 
"We've  not  a  moment  to  lose. 

"Back  to  your  places,  every  one  of  you," 
she  added,  as  she  bounded  to  her  seat  on  the 
White- White  Horse,  "until  half  after  twilight 
to-morrow,  when  I'll  come  to  tell  you  the 
rest." 

And  with  a  hurried  "Sleep  tight"  and  a  last 
silvery  laugh,  she  sped  away  toward  her  home 
in  the  west. 


69 


CHAPTER  X 

IN    WHICH    THE    PRETTY    LADY    TELLS    OF 
MYSTERIES    AND    SPANGLES 


W 


"ELL,"  said  Tiger,  as  he  folded  his 
paws  in  a  most  complacent  manner, 
"I'm  ready." 
"We,  also,"  declared  Elephant,  speaking  for 
his  entire  family,  who,  having  formed  a  line, 
were  just  at  that  moment  swaying  backward 
and  forward  quite  as  if  they  were  about  to 
glide  into  the  graceful  maze  of  a  waltz. 

"So  are  all  of  us,"  commented  Lion,  as  he 
surveyed  the  great  group  from  his  station 
before  it.  "I  wonder  what  can  be  keeping  the 
Pretty  Lady?" 

"Perhaps  the  White- White  Horse  is  delayed 
by  the  clouds,"  suggested  Elephant,  as  he 
paused  long  enough  to  push  back  the  wall  near 
the  eaves  of  the  tent  and  peer  into  the  dusk. 
"I  can  make  out  whole  crowds  of  them  along 

70 


MYSTERIES  AND  SPANGLES 

the  streets  of  the  sky.  They  have  been  there 
all  afternoon.  It  is  always  that  way  on 
market  days.  Even  the  sun  can  scarcely  find 
its  way." 

"How  long  do  you  suppose  it  has  been  since 
half -past  twilight  began?"  asked  Emu  of 
Diggeldy  Dan. 

"Well,  well,"  said  the  clown,  as  he  drew  the 
Petal  Watch  from  the  innermost  depths  of  his 
round,  funny  hat,  "now  that's  what  I  call 
a  question." 

"Let  me  see,"  mused  he,  setting  his  head  on 
one  side,  pursing  his  very  red  lips  and  half 
shutting  his  two,  twinkling  eyes.  "I  should 
say — though,  mind  you,  I  do  not  pretend  to  be 
exactly  correct — I  should  say  it  has  been  not 
less  than  five  hippo-yawns,  nor  yet  more  than 
two  cat-naps." 

"Oh,  surely,  it  must  be  longer  than  that," 
protested  Monkey.  "It  seems  an  age  to  me. 
I  never  saw  such  a  watch,  anyway.  Now,  if 
it  had  behaved  for  but  a  minute  more  last 
evening,  we  should  all  have  known  the  secret 
of  the  Story  Time  Rock." 

"Monkey,  Monkey,"  sighed  Lion,  "I  am 
71 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

afraid  that  you  are  of  that  queer  set  of  folks 
who  are  ever  looking  for  a  clock  that  will 
travel  both  ways  at  one  time." 

"Both  ways  at  one  time!"  exclaimed  Mon- 
key. "Why,  who  ever  spoke  of  any  such 
thing?  I  surely  did  not,  for,  of  course  no  such 
clock  could  possibly  be." 

"No,  it  could  not,"  answered  Lion.  "Yet, 
I  repeat,  that  is  what  you  would  like.  For,  in 
one  breath,  you  find  fault  with  the  Petal  Watch 
because  it  moved  too  swiftly  last  night,  and  in 
the  next  you  complain  because  it  travels  so 
slowly  to-day." 

"Exactly,"  chimed  Dan. 

"Well,  I  never  stopped  to  think  of  it  in  just 
that  way,"  admitted  Monkey,  as  he  scratched 
his  head,  "and,  besides — " 

"Besides,"  broke  in  the  keen-eared  Hyena, 
"here  comes  the  one  for  whom  we're  all 
waiting!" 

Sure  enough  there  resounded  the  patter  of 
oncoming  hoofs  and  the  next  moment  into 
the  menagerie  tent  galloped  the  White- White 
Horse,  carrying  the  Pretty  Lady  with  the  Blue- 
Blue  Eyes.  Her  pink  cheeks  made  the  pinker 

72 


MYSTERIES  AND  SPANGLES 

by  the  speed  of  the  ride,  and  her  curls  blown 
straight  back  with  the  rush  of  the  wind,  she 
drew  up  in  front  of  the  group. 

"It  was  the  clouds,"  she  explained.  "There 
were  simply  no  end  of  them  out  shopping 
to-day,  and  then  any  number  waited  to  see 
the  sun  go  down.  Of  course,  all  had  to  have 
spangles;  and  some  of  the  baby  clouds  wanted 
two  helpings.  That  all  took  time,  but — here  I 
am  at  last.  See!  the  Spangle  Bag  is  almost  as 
flat  as  Elephant's  ear." 

"Where  will  you  get  enough  spangles  to  fill 
it  again?"  asked  Camel. 

"I'll  be  glad  to  tell  you,  but,  for  the  present, 
one  thing  at  a  time.  Remember,  we  have  not 
yet  solved  the  mystery  of  the  Story  Time  Rock. 
Unless,"  she  hastened  to  add,  "unless  you  have 
guessed  the  riddle  of  the  voice  that  was 
stilled." 

"Not  one  of  us  has,"  answered  Lion, 
"though  we  are  all  convinced  that  Vargu  was 
pretty  much  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole 
strange  affair." 

"He  was,  sure  enough,"  assented  the  Lady, 
"and  this  was  the  way  of  it:  Quite  some  time 

73 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

before  he  had  made  friends  with  Soft  Foot 
Vargu  had  discovered  an  all  but  hidden  cave 
with  an  entrance  from  the  top  of  the  cliff. 
He  had  explored  it  repeatedly  arid  so  knew  its 
outer  wall  was  almost  worn  through  the  face 
of  the  rock.  Now,  as  you  may  have  guessed, 
it  was  the  nimble  Too-Bo-Tan  who  passed 
through  the  tops  of  the  trees  sending  out  the 
strange  cry  that  called  all  the  animals  to- 
gether. Meanwhile,  Vargu  had  taught  Soft 
Foot  a  wonderful  story.  Finally,  there  came 
the  night  when  all  the  animals  were  gathered 
at  the  foot  of  the  cliff.  And  then,  taking  a 
stone,  Vargu  pounded  a  hole  through  the  wall 
of  the  cave  to  the  outer  side  of  the  rock. 
Next,  Soft  Foot  spoke  to  those  on  the  great 
plain  below;  and  then  he  told  them  the  story. 
Of  course,  since  he  was  telling  it  from  the 
hollow  depths  of  the  cave,  his  voice  sounded 
ever  so  big.  And  so  there  was  really  no 
mystery  at  all. 

"Having  gained  his  point — that  of  bringing 
all  the  animals  together — Vargu  gave  his  time 
to  the  meetings  that  were  held  on  the  plain. 
As  the  years  passed,  Too-Bo-Tan  succeeded 

74 


MYSTERIES  AND  SPANGLES 

his  father  and  became  the  favorite  among  all 
those  who  told  tales  at  the  Story  Time  Rock. 
And  finally  he  came  to  be  a  leader  among 
them;  and  is  to  this  very  day." 

"Shall  we  ever  see  him?"  asked  Diggeldy 
Dan. 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  know.  Sometime,  perhaps. 
And  now,  one  and  all,  a  merry  good  night, 
for  I  must  hurry  away  to  thread  my  spangle 
needles  and  set  them  in  place." 

"Spangle  needles,"  repeated  Puma.  "Pray, 
what  are  they?" 

"Why,  what  else  but  needles  that  catch  the 
spangles,"  laughed  the  Pretty  Lady,  "which 
reminds  me  that  I  was  to  tell  you  about  them. 
Here,  Diggeldy  Dan,  take  your  place  at  the 
head  of  my  White- White  Horse,  while  I 
explain  just  how  spangles  are  made. 

"You  see,"  she  went  on,  as  Dan  skipped  to 
obey,  "spangles  are  really  nothing  more  than 
dewdrops  squeezed  out  very  flat.  As  for  a 
supply — there's  no  end;  but  to  catch  them's 
a  trick  requiring  no  little  knack.  Now  it  has 
been  my  happy  task  to  gather  spangles  for  the 
clouds,  and  for  all  the  glittering  hosts  of  our 

75 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

own  Spangleland  for  ever  and  ever  and  ever 
so  long.  And  this  is  the  best  way  of  all: 
First,  I  take  a  great  armful  of  needles — 
medium  sized  moonbeams  give  the  finest  re- 
sults— and  thread  them  with  cobwebs.  Next, 
I  plant  them  along  the  sides  of  my  house 
directly  under  the  edge  of  the  eaves,  with 
their  heads  in  the  ground  and  their  sharp  little 
noses  straight  up  in  the  air.  Now,  during  the 
night  the  dewdrops  come  to  play  on  the  roof 
and  many  jump  off  to  the  garden  below.  And, 
as  they  do,  they  land  on  the  points  of  the 
moonbeams.  Down  they  come,  never  minding 
in  the  least,  for,  if  there  is  one  thing  that  a 
dewdrop  would  rather  be  than  a  dewdrop,  it's 
a  spangle.  On  and  on  they  come,  piling 
one  on  the  other,  becoming  very  flat,  very 
shiny  and  very  round,  and  then  sliding  on  to 
the  threads.  So,  when  morning  comes,  I  take 
the  Spangle  Bag,  'snip'  the  knots,  and  let  the 
spangles  tumble  and  tinkle  into  its  depths. 
And  so  I  always  have  enough  to  sprinkle  the 
sunset  whenever  I  pass." 

"Why,  that  must  be  the  way  the  rain  gets 
into  the  clouds!"  cried  Diggeldy  Dan. 

76 


MYSTERIES  AND  SPANGLES 

"It's  one  of  the  ways,"  smiled  the  Lady. 

"And  the  reason  why  spangles  always  have 
a  wee  hole  in  the  middle,"  remarked  Seal. 

"How  wonderfully  fortunate,"  added  Zebra. 
"Otherwise,  they  couldn't  be  sewed." 

"I  don't  see  why  you  say  that,"  said 
Kangaroo. 

"Say  what?"  asked  Zebra. 

"Why,  that  they  have  to  have  holes  to  be 
sowed." 

"But  they  do." 

"Can't  see  it,"  persisted  Kangaroo. 

"Why,  how  could  one  make  them  stay  on?" 

"Just  sow  them,  of  course,"  answered  Kan- 
garoo, "toss  them  on." 

"Now,  don't  be  silly,  Kangaroo,"  said 
Zebra,  "you—" 

"Hold  on  a  moment,"  interrupted  Lion. 
"I  think  I  see  the  point.  Let  me  ask  you, 
Kangaroo:  On  what  are  you  thinking  of  sowing 
the  spangles?" 

"Why,  I  mean  like  when  the  Pretty  Lady 
sows  them  on  the  cloud  banks  when  she  rides 
past,"  replied  Kangaroo. 

"And  you,  Zebra?"  asked  Lion. 
77 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Camel's  plush  robe,  and  costumes  and 
things,"  said  Zebra. 

"Oh,  you  mean  * s-e-w-e-d ! ' "  cried  Kangaroo. 

"Oh,  you  mean  's-o-w-e-d!"  apologized 
Zebra. 

And  amid  the  laughter  that  followed  Dan 
assisted  the  Pretty  Lady  to  the  back  of  the 
White- White  Horse. 

:<  You'll  come  again,  some  day?"  asked 
Lion,  as  the  golden-haired  one  waved  them  a 
smiling  farewell. 

"Some  day,"  she  replied.  And,  giving  full 
rein  to  her  steed,  she  galloped  down  the 
length  of  the  tent.  As  the  White- White 
Horse  nosed  his  way  through  the  wall,  the 
animals  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  first  dart- 
ling  beams  of  a  far-distant  star.  The  Pretty 
Lady  seemed  to  regard  the  beams  for  a 
moment,  as  if  trying  to  make  up  her  mind 
whether  they  would  quite  do  for  spangle 
needles.  Then  the  wall  closed  again  and  the 
Lady,  the  White- White  Horse  and  the  star 
passed  from  view,  while  all  of  the  animals 
hurried  back  to  their  places,  still  discussing  the 
spangles  that  were  made  from  the  dew. 

78 


CHAPTER  XI 

IN    WHICH    THE    ANIMALS    PLAY    AT    CIRCUS    AND 
DAN  PROMISES  A  STORY 

IT  was  but  a  few  evenings  following  that 
upon  which  the  Pretty  Lady  had  set  out 
in  quest  of  the  spangle  needles.    Diggeldy 
Dan  had  mounted  to  his   place    on    Hippo's 
broad  back,  and  Lion  had  taken  his  in  front 
of  the  group,  when  the  clattering  crew  made 
a  startling  discovery: 
Monkey  was  missing! 

Look  where  they  would,  he  was  nowhere  to 
be  found;  call  as  they  would,  he  gave  no 
answering  sound. 

"He   unhooked  my  chain,"   said  Elephant. 
"And  opened  the  gate  to  my  corral,"  added 
Ostrich. 

"I  saw  him  talking  with  Zebra  not  a  minute 
ago,"  puzzled  Dan. 

"Zebra,"  repeated  Lion,  "Zebra?  Where  is 
Zebra?  Why,  he  is  gone,  too!" 

79 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

Here  was  a  mystery,  indeed! 

"Scatter  at  once,"  ordered  Lion,  "and  leave 
no  nook  unsearched."  And  "scatter"  they 
did.  Some  went  into  the  depths  of  the  cages, 
others  looked  underneath,  while  Giraffe  and 
his  family  inspected  every  square  inch  of  the 
roofs.  But  not  a  glimpse  did  they  catch  of  the 
runaway  pair. 

"Redouble  the  search,"  commanded  Lion, 
from  his  station  in  the  center  of  the  menagerie 
tent.  But  scarcely  had  he  spoken  when  from 
a  distance  came  the  patter  and  clatter  of 
hurrying  hoofs. 

"All  searchers  to  the  front,"  countermanded 
Lion.  "For,  if  I  mistake  not  the  sound,  here 
comes  a  visitor  who  will  doubtless  be  willing  to 
lend  us  her  aid." 

Even  as  he  concluded  there  dashed  into 
view — whom  do  you  suppose?  The  Pretty 
Lady  and  the  White- White  Horse?  Ah!  but 
you  are  wrong.  For  it  was  none  other  than 
Zebra,  with  that  mischievous  Monkey  perched 
on  his  back!  Down  the  length  of  the  tent 
the  two  of  them  scurried,  traveling  lickety- 
split. 

80 


THE  ANIMALS  PLAY  AT  CIRCUS 

"Here!  Here!"  commanded  Lion.  "Get 
back  to  your  places  this  very  minute!" 

"Just  as  soon  as  we've  let  the  wind  comb 
our  hair,"  came  the  cry  in  reply.  And  the 
next  moment,  with  Zebra's  ears  flopping  this 
way  and  that,  and  Monkey  doing  his  best  to 
look  entirely  at  ease,  the  truants  returned  to 
the  group. 

What  a  picture  they  made! 

Zebra  wore  a  bridle  with  a  brilliant  red 
plume,  while  Monkey  was  lost  almost  wholly 
to  view  in  a  gorgeous  pink  hat  and  a  skirt 
made  of  blue. 

"Well,  young  sirs,  what  does  this  mean?" 
demanded  Lion. 

"Why,"  whimpered  Monkey,  "Zebra  and 
I  talked  it  over  and  thought  it  would  be  fun  to 
play  circus.  So  we  stole  away  to  the  little 
tents  and  borrowed  some  costumes.  Now, 
don't  scold,  Lion.  We  didn't  mean  to  do 
anything  wrong." 

"Hum,"  answered  Lion,  who  was  really 
rather  pleased  with  the  thought.  "Play  circus, 
eh?  Well — go  ahead;  let  us  see  what  you  two 
can  do." 

81 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Oh,"  returned  Monkey,  brightening  up, 
"but  we  can't  perform  without  a  ring,  and  a 
ringmaster  and  everything  like  that — " 

"And,  of  course,  we  must  have  music," 
added  Zebra.  "You  see  we  thought  that 
since  Elephant  and  Seal  and  their  folks  are 
such  splendid  musicians,  perhaps  they — " 

"Delighted,  I'm  sure,"  agreed  Elephant,  amid 
his  family's  ponderous  nods  of  approval. 

"At  your  service,  always,"  chimed  Seal,  as 
his  household  clapped  their  funny  front  fins  in 
consent. 

"If  no  objection — will  make  ring,"  scrawled 
Giraffe  on  the  side  of  a  cage. 

Of  course  there  was  none;  so,  digging  the 
top  from  Dan's  pocket,  and  using  his  hind 
feet  as  a  pivot,  Giraffe  spread  his  front  legs 
wide  apart,  reached  far  out  with  his  neck,  and 
gradually  swung  around  in  a  great  circle  while 
he  described  an  almost  perfect  ring  on  the 
ground  by  using  the  spike  in  the  top  for  a 
marker. 

Meanwhile,  many  willing  workers  rolled  a 
dozen  or  more  gayly  painted  "tubs"  to  the 
edge  of  the  ring.  Then  came  the  band  bringing 

82 


And  so  this  strangest  of  all  circuses  began.     Page  83. 


THE  ANIMALS  PLAY  AT  CIRCUS 

all  manner  of  drums  and  queer-looking  horns, 
to  say  nothing  of  Elephant  carrying  his  mam- 
moth bass  viol;  after  which  each  player  took  a 
seat  on  one  of  the  tubs  and  began  to  "tune 
up"  for  the  circus. 

"Of  course,  we  must  have  an  announcer," 
said  Lion. 

"I'll  be  him,"  cried  Tiger. 

Needless  to  say,  Diggeldy  Dan  was  the 
clown,  while  Lion — wearing  an  old  silk  hat 
that  Seal  sometimes  juggled  in  the  real  circus, 
and  armed  with  a  whip  that  Puma  had  brought 
from  the  great  tent  beyond — played  ring- 
master. 

And  so  this  strangest  of  all  circuses  began. 

"Just  watch  my  two  ears  for  the  tempo  and 
time,"  said  Elephant,  who  conducted  the  band. 
Thus,  with  the  bow  of  his  great  fiddle  held 
firmly  in  his  forefoot,  and  playing  notes  that 
fairly  boomed  with  their  bigness,  he  set  his 
ears  to  beating:  "One,  two,  three;  one,  two, 
three,"  while  the  music  tripped  forth  in  a  soft, 
swaying  waltz.  After  a  few  bars  had  been 
played,  Tiger  raised  his  paw  for  silence  and 
then  stepped  gravely  to  the  front  of  the  ring. 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "I  take 
pleasure  in  announcing  Mademoiselle  Monkey- 
etta,  direct  from  the  deepest  depths  of  Jungle- 
land,  who,  with  her  marvelous  steed,  Zebra- 
ello,  will  now  astonish  you  with  her  wonderful 
feats  of  riding." 

At  this  Seal  and  his  family  played  a  ringing, 
lingering  "ta-ta-a-a-ah"  on  their  horns;  the 
band  struck  up  the  liveliest  of  melodies,  while 
into  the  ring  trotted  Zebra  with  Monkey  posed 
on  his  back.  Close  behind  came  Diggeldy 
Dan,  balancing  his  round,  pointed  hat  on  the 
tip  of  his  nose. 

And  then,  at  a  whip-crack  from  Lion,  the 
riding  began. 

Around  and  around  went  the  galloping 
pair — a  maze  of  black  and  white  stripes  sur- 
mounted by  a  higgeldy-piggeldy  ball  of  ruffles 
of  blue,  a  flopping  pink  hat,  with  here  and 
there  a  brown  leg  or  an  arm.  At  first  Monkey 
did  little  more  than  hold  fast  to  Zebra's  short 
mane.  But,  gradually  becoming  used  to  his 
steed's  measured  stride,  the  merry-eyed  fellow 
dared  to  stand  on  his  feet  and  to  dance  as 
they  flew  round  the  ring.  At  this  all  the 

84 


THE  ANIMALS  PLAY  AT  CIRCUS 

animals  applauded  with  glee,  while  Lion 
cracked  his  long  whip  even  more  than  before. 

Faster  and  faster  went  Elephant's  ears. 
Faster  and  faster  went  the  music,  and  faster 
and  faster  sped  Zebra.  And  then,  all  of  a 
sudden,  this  wonderful  steed  stopped  short 
in  his  tracks,  sending  Monkey  high  over  his 
head! 

All  leaped  to  their  feet  to  see  the  marvelous 
rider  sitting  quite  in  a  heap  and  striving  to 
free  his  face  from  the  depths  of  his  hat  which 
had  been  completely  switched  about  by  the 
tumble. 

"I  say,  there!  That  wasn't  one  of  the  things 
we  planned  to  do,"  sputtered  Monkey  from 
inside  the  bonnet. 

"I  know  it,"  admitted  Zebra,  as  he  did  his 
best  to  smother  his  laughter;  "but,  as  I  was 
going  round  and  round  it  occurred  to  me  that 
I  would  make  a  far  better  looking  trick  mule 
than  a  handsome  circus  horse.  And,  as  trick 
mules  always  toss  their  riders  over  their  ears — 
why,  I  just  came  to  a  stop,  and — there  you  are." 

"Yes,"  assented  Monkey,  rather  ruefully, 
"here  I  am."  But,  scrambling  to  his  feet  and 

85 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

disposing  of  the  bonnet,  he  caught  the  twinkle 
in  every  eye.  And  then  he,  too,  burst  into  a 
merry  laugh. 

"Zebra,  you  were  quite  right,"  he  said. 
"Perhaps  we  were  both  taking  ourselves  a  bit 
too  seriously;  for,  I'm  bound  to  confess,  I 
hardly  look  like  one  of  the  beautiful  circus 
ladies  who  ride  round  the  rings.'* 

"Anyway,  it  all  added  to  the  fun,"  said 
Diggeldy  Dan.  "In  fact,  Zebra  reminded  me 
of  a  donkey  I  once  rode  in  a  small  one-ring 
circus  of  the  long,  long  ago." 

"Oh,  then  you  were  not  always  with  the 
very  biggest  kind?"  questioned  Puma. 

"By  no  means,"  answered  Dan,  "and, 
indeed,  might  never  have  been  had  I  not  met 
Gray  Ears,  the  Elephant." 

"A  story,  a  story!"  cried  Leopard.  "Tell  us 
the  story!" 

"To-morrow  I  will,"  agreed  Diggeldy  Dan, 
"for  the  Petal  Watch  warns  me  there  is  no 
time  to-day.  Come,  now,  Zebra,  hurry  away 
with  the  plume  and  costume  and  put  them 
where  they  belong,  while  Monkey  and  I  close 
each  door  and  corral. 

86 


THE  ANIMALS  PLAY  AT  CIRCUS 

"At  twilight  to-morrow,"  the  clown  called 
again,  as  Zebra  returned  and  his  chain  was 
hooked  fast;  "then  I'll  tell  you  the  tale  of  a 
midsummer's  day,  away  back  in  the  dim, 
distant  past." 


87 


CHAPTER  XII 

IN  WHICH  DAN  ANSWERS  THE  BECKONING  TREES 

NOT  in   all   Spangleland,   nor,   for  that 
matter,  anywhere  else,  is  there  to  be 
found   quite   such    a    twilight    as    that 
which  is  spun  in  the  great  tent  that  belongs 
to   the   "monkeys,   and  lions,   and  tigers  and 
things." 

As  you  must  often  have  noted,  there  is 
among  the  breezes,  a  certain  one  that  is 
extremely  partial  to  animals.  It  is  never 
happier  than  when  ruffling  the  forelock  of 
some  big  dapple-gray;  teasing  the  tail  of  proud 
chanticleer;  or  cradling  a  gull  in  its  wide- 
spreading  arms.  Indeed,  it  is  the  very  "va- 
grant breeze"  of  which,  doubtless,  you  have 
heard  many  times.  But,  wherever  its  fancy 
may  carry  it  throughout  the  hours  of  the  day, 
it  always  reaches  Spangleland  just  before  the 
sun  dips  from  view.  There  it  seeks  out  a 

88 


DAN  ANSWERS  THE  BECKONING  TREES 

hiding  place  on  the  edge  of  the  town,  to  watch 
and  to  wait.  And,  at  the  first  sign  of  eventide, 
this  knowing  breeze  slips  along  near  the  ground, 
wriggles  under  the  wall,  and  so  comes  inside 
the  menagerie  tent. 

Once  within,  it  frolics  this  way  and  that, 
but  so  very  slyly  that  even  the  keenest-eared 
of  the  animals  can  no  more  detect  it  than  one 
might  hear  a  butterfly  sing.  Yet  it  is  here, 
there,  and  everywhere,  rubbing  its  nose  against 
the  blue  of  the  poles  and  its  back  and  its  sides 
against  the  cages  of  red.  In  doing  this  it 
takes  just  a  bit  of  the  color  of  both  and  so 
clothes  itself  in  a  soft,  purple  coat.  Then, 
when  it  departs,  it  leaves  the  filmy  garment 
behind,  and  that,  you  see,  is  the  twilight. 

Now,  it  was  just  at  the  moment  when  this 
vagrant  breeze  had  cast  off  its  robe  that  Dan 
wound  his  arms  around  his  knees,  gazed 
thoughtfully  across  the  tops  of  them  and 
started  the  story  of  Gray  Ears,  the  Elephant. 

"It  all  began  with  the  beckoning  trees," 
he  said  rather  slowly.  :<You  see,  they  kept 
calling  me.  I  was  never  far  from  them.  The 
one-ring  circus  of  which  I  was  a  part  was  so 

89 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

very  small  that  it  never  ventured  into  the 
cities,  but  contented  itself  with  visiting  the 
smallest  of  hamlets  and  villages.  So,  as  we 
moved  from  one  to  the  other,  our  winding 
wagon  train  threaded  roads  that  led  through 
the  woods.  When  we  pitched  our  tent,  it  was 
often  at  the  very  edge  of  the  trees.  And 
always,  ever  and  always,  they  beckoned  me. 
At  times  it  was  as  if  their  topmost  branches 
were  swayed  by  great  puffs  of  wind.  At  such 
moments  they  would  bend  toward  me  and  then 
toss  themselves  back  again,  as  if  saying  in 
pantomime: 

"'Come  on,  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan; 
come  on  and  play!' 

"And,  as  often  as  they  called,  just  that 
often  did  I  resolve  to  answer.  But,  somehow, 
I  seemed  never  able  to  find  the  time.  You  see, 
just  because  it  was  so  very  small,  the  circus 
needed  the  help  of  all  of  us  to  put  it  in  place, 
to  give  the  performances,  and  then  to  move 
on  and  on.  And  so  I  was  busy  throughout  all 
the  day. 

"As  the  summer  advanced  and  the  woods 
grew  more  green  and  the  shadows  more  dense, 


DAN  ANSWERS  THE  BECKONING  TREES 

the  call  came  again  and  again.  There  were 
times  when  I  was  tempted  to  let  everything 
go  and  just  skip  away  to  the  deep,  leafy 
depths.  Now  this  may  seem  odd  to  you — " 

"Ah,  but  it  does  not,"  spoke  up  Leopard; 
"I  know  the  feeling." 

"And  I,"  added  Tiger. 

"So  do  we  all,"  said  Lion,  a  bit  wistfully. 
"Indeed,  if  it  were  not  for  the  certain  most 
important  reason,  I  sometimes  think  we  ani- 
mals might — well,  there  is  no  telling  what  we 
might  do.  But,  of  course,  there  are  the 
children — " 

"Yes,  yes,  the  children,"  repeated  all  the 
animals,  very  softly. 

"The  children,  to  be  sure,"  agreed  Diggeldy 
Dan.  "I  thought  of  them,  too.  'It  is  all 
very  well  for  you  to  dream  of  running  off  to 
the  woods,  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan,'  I  would 
say  to  myself,  'but  what  of  the  children  that 
come  to  the  circus  to  see  the  clowns?  What, 
yes,  what  would  they  say  if  there  wasn't  any 
clown?  Answer  me  that,  Diggeldy  Dan.' 
And  yet,  there  came  a  day  when  all  my 
reasoning  went  to  the  winds. 

91 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"It  happened  on  an  afternoon  when  our 
tent  was  pitched  between  the  littlest  of  towns 
and  the  greatest  of  woods.  The  crowd  had 
come,  the  band  had  begun  to  play,  the  circus 
was  in  full  swing.  I  was  in  the  ring,  jesting 
with  the  ringmaster  and  cutting  my  cleverest 
capers.  But  my  thoughts  were  in  the  depths 
of  the  woods.  For  I  could  see  the  green  of  the 
trees  through  the  eaves  of  the  tent  and  the 
rugged  brown  trunks  through  the  half-cur- 
tained door.  And,  oh,  how  they  called  me! 
Not  even  the  mirth  of  the  tow-headed  boy 
who  sat  in  the  very  front  row,  nor  the  forget- 
me-nots  on  the  bonnet  of  the  little  girl  just 
behind  him  could  take  the  tug  from  my  heart. 

"Now  on  this  day,  as  always,  there  came 
the  moment  when  I  made  a  face  at  the  ring- 
master while  he,  on  his  part,  let  fly  with  his 
whip.  And,  as  was  the  fashion,  I  pretended 
great  awe  of  him  and  dashed  from  the  ring  to 
escape  his  advance.  This  bit  of  acting  I  had 
done  whole  dozens  of  times,  always  scampering 
as  far  as  the  door  at  the  rear  of  the  tent  and 
then  coming  back  to  my  place.  But,  just  as  I 
reached  the  curtain  on  this  afternoon,  the 

92 


DAN  ANSWERS  THE  BECKONING  TREES 

great  wind-puffs  began!  How  the  hundreds 
upon  hundreds  of  branches  bent  forward;  and 
how  they  swept  backward  again!  They  were 
beckoning  me  onward,  beckoning  as  never 
before ! 

"And  so,  without  so  much  as  turning  my 
head,  I  bounded  on  through  the  door  and  ran 
straight  for  the  trees.  As  I  reached  the  first 
of  them,  there  came  the  voice  of  the  ring- 
master bidding  me  return.  Soon  other  voices, 
voices  great  and  small  and  deep  and  shrill, 
rose  in  one  clear  cry: 

"'Come  back,  Dan!  Come  back,  Diggeldy 
Dan!' 

"But  the  woods  now  held  me  fast  in  their 
arms. 

' '  On,  on,  Diggeldy  Dan ! '  called  every  leaf. 

"'Stop,  stop!'  pleaded  every  child  and, 
mingling  with  their  voices,  I  could  hear  the 
gutteral  bass  of  the  ringmaster's  shout. 

"How  I  ran!  Deep,  deep  into  the  depths 
of  the  boundless  woods  I  sped;  and  deep,  deep 
into  the  boundless  woods  came  they  who  gave 
chase.  Peering  back  over  my  shoulder,  I 
could  see  all  the  children,  and  all  their  fathers 

93 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

and  mothers  and  uncles  and  even  their  aunts 
coming  pell-mell  in  pursuit,  all  led  by  the 
ringmaster  in  his  shiny  top  hat  and  shiny  top 
boots. 

'You  must  not  run  away,  Dan!'  warned  a 
voice  from  within. 

"Come  away,  come  away,  Dan!'  sang  the 
leaves  from  the  trees. 

"And  so  I  pressed  on.  Indeed,  I  could  not 
stop.  The  leaves  underfoot  seemed  in  league 
with  those  overhead.  They  pushed  against 
the  soles  of  my  feet,  sending  me  forward  by 
leaps  and  by  bounds.  But,  fast  as  I  ran,  those 
who  came  after  proved  even  swifter  than  I. 
Looking  back  once  again,  I  could  see  the  ring- 
master had  redoubled  his  speed.  On  he  came, 
the  split  tails  of  his  coat  sticking  straight 
out  behind,  while,  clinging  tight  to  the  ends  of 
them  were  the  tow-headed  boy  and  the  little 
girl  with  the  forget-me-not  bonnet! 

"I  was  glad  they  were  gaining  on  me;  and 
yet  I  was  sorry.  I  wanted  them  to  catch  me, 
and  yet  I  did  not.  Meanwhile,  I  ran  like  the 
wind.  But  they  came  nearer  and  nearer. 
Now  the  ringmaster  was  so  close  that  I  could 

94 


•-     -y 


"  Something  came  from  out  the  air,  and  swept  me  square  off 
my  toes."     Page  95. 


DAN  ANSWERS  THE  BECKONING  TREES 

make  out  the  tiger-eye  buttons  on  his  very  red 
vest. 

"A  hundred  paces  ahead  showed  the  shad- 
owy outline  of  a  densely  leafed  thicket.  For 
this  cover  I  sped  and,  rounding  its  shoulder, 
shut  my  pursuers  from  view.  And  then,  just 
as  I  did  so,  something  came  from  out  the 
air,  swept  me  square  off  my  toes,  swung  me 
outward  and  aloft  and  then  dropped  me  into 
the  depths  of  the  thicket! 

"As  I  scrambled  to  my  feet  I  could  hear  the 
clamoring  cries  and  glimpse  the  hurrying 
forms  of  the  throng  as  they  swept  around  the 
corner  of  the  coppice  that  covered  me.  There 
were  children  of  all  ages  and  sizes,  with  many 
curls  and  many  hair-ribbons  held  out  on  the 
lap  of  the  wind.  And  there  were  no  end  of 
mothers  with  very  bright  eyes  and  very  pink 
cheeks,  hand  in  hand  with  no  end  of  fathers. 
And  some  carried  umbrellas  which  they  bran- 
dished overhead  as  they  ran. 

"But  suddenly  there  came  a  halt.  For  a 
puzzled  half-minute  the  ringmaster  stood  look- 
ing first  to  the  left  and  next  to  the  right. 
Then,  as  if  making  up  his  mind  that  I  had 

95 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

gone  toward  the  north,  he  cut  the  air  with 
his  whip,  thrust  it  forward  like  a  captain 
leading  his  troops  on  to  victory,  and  cried: 

"Into  the  deeper  woods!' 

"Instantly  all  the  fathers  pointed  aloft  in 
exactly  the  same  manner,  and  away  went  the 
throng,  raising  more  of  a  cry  than  before. 

"At  this  I  would  have  recalled  them.  But 
no  sooner  had  I  opened  my  mouth  to  do  so 
than  there  came  a  warning  'S-s-s-sh'  so  tre- 
mendous that  it  fairly  blew  the  hat  off  my 
head.  And,  looking  to  the  left  and  to  the 
right,  I  saw  that  I  was  standing  between  two 
great  mud-colored  posts,  roofed  in  with  a  chin 
and  the  undermost  side  of  a  monstrous  mouth 
overhung  with  a  nose  that  came  halfway  to  the 
ground ! 

"'Not  a  word  out  of  you/  warned  the 
mouth. 

"'Swish,  swish,'  from  side  to  side  went  the 
nose. 

"Tighter  and  tighter  squeezed  the  two 
ponderous  posts! 

"And,  meanwhile,  the  voices  of  those  who 
had  left  me  behind  grew  fainter  and  fainter  and 

96 


DAN  ANSWERS  THE  BECKONING  TREES 

fainter,  until,  finally,  I  could  hear  them  no 
more. 

"'Now,  then/  said  the  mouth,  as  the  posts, 
which  were  really  two  legs,  drew  apart;  and 
the  nose,  more  correctly  a  trunk,  reached  back 
and  lifted  me  to  a  place  in  the  light,  'now  you 
may  make  as  much  noise  as  you  please.' 

"And,  looking  up,  I  found  myself  gazing 
into  the  good-humored  face  of  an  elephant  of 
marvelous  size. 


07 


CHAPTER  XIII 

IN  WHICH  DAN  LEARNS  OF  PEANUTS  AND  THINGS 

T  first  my  captor  merely  appealed  to 
me  as  the  merriest-eyed  elephant  I 
had  ever  seen — and  surely  the  larg- 
est. But  I  soon  discovered  that  he  had  a 
way  of  going  about  matters  in  a  most  busi- 
nesslike manner.  Thus  he  immediately  began 
to  plan  for  the  two  of  us. 

"Now,  then,'  said  he,  'we  will  leave  this 
rather  public  place  and  go  to  my  private 
apartment.  So  if  you  will  just  hop  to  the  top 
of  my  third  toe — yes,  the  right  foot  will  do — 
and  place  your  arm  about  my  knee — ah!  that 
is  the  way — we  will  proceed.' 

"And  so,  I  clinging  tightly  to  the  big 
fellow's  leg — a  great  deal  as  children  some- 
times do  when  they  are  very  small  and  father's 
foot  is  to  be  persuaded  to  give  them  a  ride — 
we  started  on  our  way,  the  whole  of  me  moving 

96 


DAN  LEARNS  OF  PEANUTS  AND  THINGS 

quite  like  a  walking  stick  when  it  accompanies 
its  master  on  a  leisurely  stroll  through  the 
park.  On  through  thicket,  grove  and  tangled 
foliage  we  went,  and  then,  quite  of  a  moment, 
passed  between  two  giant  trees  which  formed 
the  natural  doorway  leading  into  a  half- 
inclosed  room  of  the  woods.  I  call  it  a  room 
because  it  possessed  the  entrance  just  men- 
tioned, a  floor  entirely  free  from  undergrowth, 
a  raggedy  west  window  outlined  with  boughs, 
and  a  wide-spreading  roof  fashioned  by  a 
gigantic  vine. 

"Two  logs  with  branches  broken  off  near 
the  trunks,  a  flat-topped  stump  of  considerable 
size,  and  a  curious  hanging  basket  affair 
formed  by  a  lacing  of  vine  loops  completed  the 
furnishings.  On  the  floor  was  a  pile  of  freshly 
plucked  leaves. 

'You  will  really  have  to  forgive  the  appear- 
ance of  things,'  apologized  my  host.  'You  see 
I  was  at  lunch  when  I  heard  the  shouts  and  so 
jumped  right  up  from  the  table  and  made  my 
way  to  the  thicket.  Besides,  I  moved  in  only 
last  night.  Nothing  fancy,  I'll  admit;  but 
comfortable.  I  was  rather  taken  with  the 

99 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

rustic  furniture — so  in  keeping  with  a  place  of 
this  kind,  don't  you  think?  But  do  sit  down!' 

"And,  motioning  me  to  accept  one  of  the 
logs  while  he  took  the  other,  the  big  fellow 
swung  one  foot  into  the  basket-like  contrivance 
of  which  I  have  spoken,  leaned  back  in  an 
attitude  of  perfect  contentment  and  rumbled 
something  about  'his  idea  of  solid  comfort.' 
Then,  noting  that  my  eye  was  upon  the  queer- 
looking  swing  that  supported  his  foot,  he  added : 

"'Ah,  I  see  you  are  interested  in  this  little 
invention  of  mine.  A  combination  hammock 
and  provider,  if  you  please.  Hammock  for 
the  reason  you  already  see;  provider  because — ' 

"And  at  that  he  set  the  foot  that  lay  in  the 
loops  of  the  vine  to  pumping  so  hard  that  the 
whole  of  the  roof  began  to  rock  as  if  shaken 
by  some  mighty  wind.  Scores  upon  scores  of 
leaves  soon  carpeted  the  floor.  These  the 
ponderous  fellow  swept  together  with  the  tip 
of  his  trunk  without  so  much  as  leaving  his 
seat,  and  then  added  them  to  the  halfeaten 
pile  I  had  noticed. 

"'A  rather  clever  idea,  I  should  say,5  said 
he,  with  some  show  of  pride,  'that  is,  if  one 

100 


DAN  LEARNS  OF  PEANUTS   AND  THINGS 

doesn't  mind  eating  the  shingles  off  one's  own 
house.  Of  course,  you  see  the  point:  roof, 
shingles — leaves.  Ha!  Ha!  I  thought  you 
would.'  And  with  that  he  laughed  as  though 
he  had  made  quite  the  best  joke  in  all  the 
world.  But  in  another  moment,  he  had  dropped 
into  silence  only  to  break  it  again  to  inquire 
my  name. 

"Diggeldy  Dan/  I  replied.  'And  yours?' 
"Gray  Ears,  the  Elephant,'  he  answered  as 
his  look  suddenly  changed  to  one  of  great 
soberness.  'Not  just  Gray  Ears,  mind  you, 
nor  yet  merely  Elephant,  but  "Gray  Ears,  the 
Elephant."  In  fact,  it  is  what  one  might  call 
a  whole  sentence  of  a  name.  However,  aside 
from  the  fact  that  it  does  not  well  lend  itself 
to  being  nicknamed,  I  cannot  say  much  for  it. 
For,  in  the  first  place — just  as  there  are  two 
sides  to  every  story  so  are  there  to  every  ear. 
And  the  under  side  of  an  elephant's  ear  is 
ofttimes  a  rare  pink  and  frequently  as  speckled 
as  the  nether  part  of  a  trout.  As  for  the 
phrase,  "the  Elephant,"  it  is  absolutely  and 
positively  silly.  For,  to  look  at  me,  you 
would  not  suppose  me  a  bumblebee,  nor  yet  a 

101 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

bobolink,  now  would  you?  Still,  such  is  my 
name  and  I  make  the  most  of  it.  But,  to 
change  the  tune  of  our  talk,  tell  me:  Whence 
have  you  come  and  why  did  you  run  away 
from  the  circus?' 

"Answering,  I  told  him  my  story  and  ended 
by  adding  that  had  he  not  prevented  I  should 
have  shouted  most  lustily  and  so  called  back 
those  who,  doubtless,  were  still  in  pursuit  of  me. 

"For,'  said  I,  'it  was  quite  wrong  of  me  to 
have  run  away  in  the  first  place.' 

'Yes,  in  a  way,'  assented  Gray  Ears, 
'but,  on  the  other  hand,  I  am  sure  the  children, 
the  grown-ups,  and  even  the  ringmaster  will 
enjoy  their  lark  in  the  woods  even  though  they 
return  without  you.  Thus  no  inconvenience 
has  come  to  them,  you  will  go  back  to  your 
place  in  the  late  evening  and,  in  the  mean- 
time, perform  a  most  charitable  act  by  lending 
me  your  merry  company  for  a  few  hours.  For, 
to  be  perfectly  frank,  I,  too,  am  a  runaway  and 
a  rather  lonesome  one.' 

'You  don't  mean  that  you  are' — I  began 
with  some  excitement. 

"'A   circus   elephant,'   finished   Gray   Ears. 
102 


DAN  LEARNS  OF   PEANUTS  AND  THINGS 

'None  other  than  the  mightiest  and  most 
marvelous  of  all  pachyderms  and  easily  the 
leading  feature  of  the  mammoth  menagerie  of 
the  Very  Biggest  Circus.' 

"And  he  voiced  these  mile-long  words  with 
so  much  impressiveness  that  had  he  worn  a 
waistcoat  I  am  sure  he  would  have  thrust  his 
thumb-toes  into  the  armholes  of  it. 

"Here  was  an  adventure!  A  meeting  with 
one  who  came  from  the  great,  great  circus  of 
which  I,  who  had  ever  been  with  the  smallest, 
had  heard  and  dreamed  of,  yet  never  seen! 

"But,  in  the  woods — you — I  don't  under- 
stand— '  I  puzzled. 

"My  dear  fellow,'  returned  Gray  Ears  as  he 
waved  in  the  direction  of  the  very  tallest 
trees,  'do  you  suppose  that  you  are  the  only 
one  who  feels  the  call?  Besides,  I  had  been 
told  that  a  specially  interesting  variety  of  the 
pistache  de  terre  was  to  be  found  in  this  part 
of  the  woods.  So  I  laid  my  plans  and,  while 
we  were  at  the  railroad  yards  last  night 
awaiting  our  turn  to  go  into  our  cars,  I 
walked  softly  away  along  the  shadowy  places, 
kept  to  the  back  streets  of  the  town  and  so 

103 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

finally  reached  the  open  country.  But  as  to 
the  earth-nut  that  is  said  to  be  found  here- 
abouts, a  whole  morning's  search  has  failed 
to  discover  even  a  single  vine. 

'You  see/  he  continued,  with  a  great  show 
of  vanity,  'I  have  the  largest  collection  of  the 
pistache  de  terre  in  existence/  And  spreading 
his  toes  apart,  two  at  a  time,  and  burrowing 
into  the  openings  with  the  tip  of  his  trunk,  he 
began  to  take  something  from  each.  And 
then,  what  do  you  suppose  he  finally  laid  in  a 
heap  on  the  top  of  the  tree  stump?" 

"What?"  cried  all  the  animals  in  excited 
chorus. 

"Peanuts!"  answered  Diggeldy  Dan.  "Just 
ordinary,  everyday,  circus  peanuts.  And  after 
all  those  long  words,  too!  At  least,  that  was 
what  they  looked  like  to  me.  And  so,  never 
thinking,  I  blurted,  'Oh,  peanuts!'  (no  doubt 
with  a  look  of  disappointment,  for  I  had 
expected  something  quite  wonderful)  and  then 
added,  'No  thank  you;  I  don't  believe  I  care 
for  any  just  now.  But  don't  let  that  keep  you 
from  having  some/ 

"'Having   some!'   repeated   my   companion, 
104 


DAN  LEARNS  OF  PEANUTS   AND  THINGS 

as  if  unable  to  believe  his  ears,  large  as  they 
were.  *  Having  some!'  he  fairly  shouted  again 
in  horrified  tones.  And  then,  looking  at  me  in 
the  most  pitying  manner  he  added,  'Why, 
Friend  Clown,  do  you  not  suppose  there  are 
elephants  who  look  upon  the  peanut  as  some- 
thing more  than  a  thing  to  be  eaten?  That 
there  are  those  of  us  who  study  them? — for 
what  happier  hobby  could  a  circus  elephant 
have  than  that  which  calls  for  the  collecting  of 
this  most  excellent  nut! 

"Consider  this  one,  for  instance,'  continued 
Gray  Ears,  as  he  held  one  of  the  peanuts  up 
to  the  light.  'That  is  the  true  goober.  See 
with  what  a  delicate  sweep  it  curves  in  at  the 
waist  line.  Here,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  quite 
different  nut — the  pindar  that  comes  from  the 
islands.  A  sailor  brought  it  to  the  circus  one 
day.  To  you,  and  to  him,  it  is  merely  a 
peanut.  But  to  the  trained  eye  there  is  a 
warm,  yellow  tint  in  its  wrinkled  face  and  a 
certain  sweep  to  its  curves  that  place  it  far 
from  its  various  cousins.  So,  during  my 
travels,  thousands  upon  thousands  of  nuts 
have  passed  under  my  eyes  and,  from  them,  I 

105 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

have  made  this  collection  of  exactly  seventeen 
different  ones/ 

"And  so  he  passed  from  one  peanut  to 
another,  pointing  out  the  beauties  of  each," 
went  on  Diggeldy  Dan,  "and  was  just  explain- 
ing that  the  word  peanut  was  unknown  to 
the  children  of  some  lands,  while  'monkey-nut' 
served  for  a  name  instead,  when,  suddenly 
stopping  short  and  gathering  his  brows  into 
three  immensely  deep  puckers,  he  fixed  his 
attention  upon  something  away  toward  the 
west. 

"Following  his  gaze,  I  saw  a  bloodred 
blotch  that  fairly  flamed  far  off  through  the 
trees. 

' 'Fire!'  we  both  cried,  as  if  in  one  breath; 
and  then  Gray  Ears  began  to  laugh  at  the 
thought. 

"Fire  nothing!'  said  he.  'It's  the  sun 
making  ready  for  bed.' 

"Goodness  me,  so  it  is!'  I  exclaimed. 
'I  had  no  idea  it  was  so  late.  I  hope  you  will 
not  think  me  rude,  but,  really  I  must  go  at 
once.' 

"Of  course  you  must,'  the  big  fellow  agreed, 
106 


DAN  LEARNS  OF  PEANUTS  AND  THINGS 

as  he  led  the  way  from  the  room.  *I  fear  I 
have  delayed  you  too  long  as  it  is.  But 
never  doubt,  I'll  have  you  back  at  the  edge  of 
the  littlest  town  in  but  a  little  while  more  than 
no  time  at  all.  Come — on  to  my  third  toe! 
Hold  fast— there!  We're  off!' 

"And  with  his  trunk  rolled  into  position 
while  I  clung  with  both  arms  to  his  leg,  Gray 
Ears  started  forward  with  such  amazing  strides 
that,  had  I  not  been  standing  on  one  of  his 
feet,  I  would  surely  have  thought  that  he  had 
suddenly  been  shod  with  seven-league  boots. 
Away  we  crashed,  making  straight  for  the 
heart  of  the  sunset.  Onward  we — " 

"Hey,  Dan!  Dan!  The  Petal  Watch! 
The  Petal  Watch!"  cried  Monkey. 

"Closing,  sure  enough,"  rejoined  Diggeldy 
Dan  and  a  minute  later  he  was  skipping  away 
down  the  menagerie  tent,  calling  a  good  night 
to  his  friends  and  assuring  them  he  would  be 
back  on  the  morrow  and  tell  them  still  more 
of  the  tale. 


107 


CHAPTER  XIV 

IN   WHICH    DAN    PARTS   WITH    OLD    FRIENDS   AND 
PREPARES  TO  CLAIM  A  REWARD 


I'll  warrant  you,  had  the 
greatest  of  woods  resounded  with  so 
strange  a  commotion,"  continued  Dig- 
geldy  Dan,  as  he  again  took  up  the  thread  of 
his  story.  "Never,  I'll  make  bold  to  surmise, 
had  so  singular  a  carry-all  with  such  a  gayly 
dressed  passenger  boomed  through  the  quiet  of 
its  sunset  hour.  For  what  could  have  proved 
more  of  a  surprise  to  those  peaceful  surround- 
ings than  the  approach  of  an  elephant  most  as 
big  as  a  house,  coming  onward  with  strides  as 
wide  as  a  wall,  and  a  clown  clinging  fast  to 
one  foot! 

:'Yet,  forward  we  crashed  and  we  plunged, 
making  straight  for  the  littlest  town.  Far 
ahead  the  tree  trunks  and  the  low-hanging 
boughs  showed  blue-black  against  the  russet 

108 


DAN  PARTS  WITH  OLD  FRIENDS 

and  red  of  the  sky  that  windowed  the  woods 
to  the  west.  And  from  this  very  same  spot 
sprang  long,  fan-like  rays  with  edges  of  silver 
and  edges  of  gold,  travelling  to  meet  us  and 
bathing  all  that  they  passed  in  soft,  yellow 
light.  Straight  for  this  light  the  two  of  us 
lunged — smashingly,  dashingly  onward — shak- 
ing the  ground  and  the  glades  as  we  went: 
bound  for  the  edge  of  the  town.  Now  we 
came  to  the  top  of  a  leaf-covered  slope  that 
played  floor  to  an  open  space  lined  on  both 
sides  with  trees.  And  there,  at  the  end,  was 
the  fast  sinking  sun,  while  smack  up  against 
its  ruby-red  face  stood  the  spire  of  a  church  in 
the  town. 

"At  sight  of  the  steeple  we  slackened  our 
pace,  veered  a  bit  to  the  left,  and — in  a  half- 
minute  more  —  reached  the  fringe  of  the  trees 
for  which  I  had  sped  when  I  first  took  flight 
to  the  woods.  Another  stride  and  Gray  Ears 
had  thrust  his  huge  head  through  a  rift  in  the 
foliage,  and  we  looked  out  over  the  field.  And 
then  I  made  a  most  startling  discovery. 

"The  circus  was  nowhere  to  be  seen! 

"Thinking  I  might  have  mistaken  the  spot, 
109 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

I  sprang  from  my  place  to  the  ground.  But, 
alas!  there  were  the  holes  that  had  once  held 
the  stakes,  and  the  tracks  and  the  scars  left 
by  the  red  wagon  wheels  to  prove  what  I 
feared  to  be  only  too  true. 

"As  I  stood  there,  sadly  surveying  the  spot, 
Gray  Ears  strode  across  to  my  side. 

'They   have   gone,'  I  said   to   him,   sadly, 
'gone  on,  leaving  Diggeldy  Dan.' 

"Gone,  to  be  sure,'  he  agreed,  'but  tush, 
tush — what  a  queer  tone  of  voice.  And  who- 
ever heard  of  a  clown  with  a  mouth  that 
turned  down!  So  cheer  up,  for  doubtless  it  is 
all  for  the  best.  And  in  the  meantime  let  us 
again  seek  the  trees,  for  I  think  I  heard  some- 
one approaching.' 

"True  enough,  as  we  slipped  out  of  sight 
three  figures  came  toward  us  along  a  path  that 
skirted  the  field.  And,  there  walking  hand  in 
hand  with  a  big,  broad-shouldered  man,  were 
the  tow-headed  boy  and  the  little  girl  with 
the  forget-me-not  bonnet. 

"Of  course,  they'll  get  another  one,  won't 
they,  Uncle  Tommy -Tom?'  the  little  girl  was 
asking  as  they  came  within  hearing. 

110 


DAN  PARTS  WITH  OLD  FRIENDS 

"Oh,  by  all  means.  Every  circus  must  have 
its  clown/ 

"But  where-from  will  he  come?' 
'Well,  I'm  not  certain,'  replied  the  one 
called  Uncle  Tommy -Tom,  'but  I  saw  the 
ringmaster  getting  a  gayly  colored  suit  from 
out  a  big  trunk  just  after  we  had  returned 
from  the  chase.  And  there  was  a  man  fussing 
with  an  odd-looking  wig  and  mixing  some  red 
and  white  paint.  Then  I  heard  the  two  of 
them  talking,  and  the  man  with  the  paint  said 
he'd  have  everything  in  shape  by  the  time 
they  reached  the  next  town.' 

"Oh,  then,  of  course,  they  were  getting 
ready  to  make  a  new  clown,'  spoke  up  the 
tow-headed  boy  in  a  most  knowing  and  posi- 
tive fashion. 

"Make  one?'  questioned  the  little  girl. 
*Make  one  how?' 

'WTiy,  up,  to  be  sure,'  answered  the  boy. 
*  Clowns  are  always  made  up,  though  I  can't 
tell  you  up  where  'cause  the  piece  I  read 
didn't  say.' 

"And   so,  still   talking,   the   three   of   them 
melted  away  in  the  gathering  dusk.     Even  as 

111 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

I  stood  gazing  down  the  path  they  had  taken, 
I  felt  my  companion's  trunk  on  my  shoulder. 

"'Come,  come,  Friend  Dan,  there's  nothing 
to  be  gained  by  tarrying  here.  Besides,  I  have 
already  put  my  wits  back  to  work  and  hit 
upon  a  plan  by  which  even  now  you  are  as 
good  as  engaged  as  a  clown  with  the  Very 
Biggest  Circus. 

"'No,  not  a  word/  was  his  warning  com- 
mand, as  I  sought  to  ply  him  with  questions. 
'For  I  have  not  yet  completed  the  whole  of  my 
scheme.  Besides,  our  first  thought  must  be  of 
a  lodging  place  for  the  night.  So — your  arms 
round  my  leg  once  again.' 

"Obeying,  I  mounted  the  big  fellow's  foot 
and  we  plunged  back  into  the  depths  of  the 
woods.  Presently  we  came  to  a  space  well 
covered  with  grass  and  here  we  made  ready 
for  bed.  Hollowing  a  hole  for  the  bumpy  part 
of  his  head,  Gray  Ears  was  soon  stretched  out 
on  his  side,  while  I,  using  the  curve  of  his 
trunk  for  a  pillow,  snugly  bunked  in  the  lee  of 
his  ponderous  front  knees. 

"Twice  I  sought  to  speak  of  the  plan  he  had 
named  and  twice  did  my  companion  bid  me  be 

112 


DAN  PARTS  WITH  OLD  FRIENDS 

silent.  And  so,  lying  there  gazing  upward 
through  the  canopy  of  boughs  to  the  patches 
of  star-sprinkled  sky,  I  pictured  the  future 
that  unfolded  before  me. 

"The  night  was  balmy  and  there  were 
sweet-smelling  flowers  near  my  head.  Gray 
Ears'  trunk  made  a  most  comfortable  cushion, 
and  close  by  a  cricket  sang.  So,  in  spite  of  my 
musings,  I  was  soon  ready  for  sleep.  Indeed, 
I  rather  resented  being  suddenly  roused  and 
told  to  make  ready  for  another  march  through 
the  woods.  Still,  I  obeyed,  and  in  what  seemed 
even  less  than  a  twinkling,  found  myself  in  a 
tent  of  marvelous  size.  In  it  were  simply 
whole  battalions  of  clowns  and,  most  wonder- 
ful of  all,  a  fireplace  quite  as  big  as  the  side  of 
our  own  Hippo's  cage.  Then  from  somewhere 
there  dangled  dozens  upon  dozens  of  milelong 
vine  branches,  and  taking  hold  of  the  ends  of 
them  the  clowns  began  to  bind  some  one  fast 
to  the  ground.  Even  as  I  looked  I  saw  that 
the  'some  one'  was  Gray  Ears.  Yes,  the 
strange  clowns  were  making  the  big  fellow  a 
prisoner,  and,  prying  his  great  toes  apart, 
were  extracting  the  peanuts  one  at  a  time! 

113 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

As  fast  as  the  nuts  were  removed  they  were 
taken  to  the  front  of  the  fireplace.  In  vain 
did  their  owner  protest.  All  were  to  be 
burned  on  the  spot. 

"Finally  the  first  of  the  peanuts  was  pushed 
to  the  edge  of  the  fire.  In  a  moment  I  recog- 
nized it  as  my  friend's  favorite  nut — the 
delicately  colored  pindar  that  had  come  from 
the  islands.  And  crying,  'No!  No!  Not  that 
one!'  I  bounded  straight  for  the  hearth,  bent 
upon  rolling  the  nut  from  the  flames.  The 
heat  was  intense.  I  could  feel  its  hot  breath 
on  my  brow.  Then  a  wind  seemed  to  fan  the 
flames  into  great,  leaping  tongues  and,  looking 
about,  I  saw  that  all  the  clowns  had  joined 
round  with  hand-bellows,  which  they  were 
pumping  for  all  they  were  worth.  At  the 
same  moment  I  reached  forward  to  rescue  the 
peanut.  And  then — I  opened  my  eyes. 

"Above  me  was  the  same  canopy  of  boughs, 
but  through  one  of  the  chinks  where  there 
once  had  shone  stars  a  great  shaft  from  the 
sun  poured  its  warm,  dazzling  light  full  in  my 
eyes.  Next,  though  not  so  much  as  a  leaf  was 
astir,  I  felt  the  touch  of  a  breeze  and,  turning 

114 


DAN  PARTS  WITH  OLD  FRIENDS 

my  head,  saw  a  vast,  moving  ear  flopping 
first  up  and  then  down!  And  under  that  ear 
was  a  face  wearing  a  most  mischievous  smile. 

'Why — why — it's  morning!'  I  cried,  spring- 
ing up.  'But  where  is  the  tent!  And  the 
clowns ! ' 

"Morning,  sure  enough,'  answered  Gray 
Ears,  as  he  ponderously  rose  to  his  feet. 
'As  for  tents  and  clowns  and  all  that  sort  of 
thing,  I'm  sure  I've  seen  none,  though  I  must 
say  you  were  making  fuss  enough  just  before 
you  waked  up  to  have  been  playing  hide  and 
go  seek  with  all  in  existence.  But  tell  me  what 
it  all  was  about.' 

"And  so,  as  we  busied  ourselves  gathering 
berries  and  green  grass  for  breakfast,  I  related 
the  whole  of  my  dream. 

"Now,  really,'  I  questioned  in  ending, 
'are  there  that  many  clowns  with  the  Very 
Biggest  Circus?' 

"Goodness,  no,'  laughed  Gray  Ears.  'Still, 
there  are  many — two  score  and  more.' 

'"Alas,  then,'  I  sighed,  'they  will  not  need 
Diggeldy  Dan.' 

'Nevertheless    they    will    keep    you,'    an- 
115 


..  <• 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

swered  my  friend,  as  we  sat  down  to  our  meal, 
'and  for  this  reason:  as  you  of  course  know,  I 
am  a  runaway  from  the  Very  Biggest  Circus, 
and  one  of  its  very  great  features.  Now, 
while  I  said  nothing  at  the  time,  I  came 
upon  this  placard  tacked  to  a  tree  while  you 
were  examining  the  circus  grounds  at  the  edge 
of  the  town  last  night.' 

"And  with  that  Gray  Ears  produced  a 
square  of  bright  yellow  cardboard  with  these 
words  in  tall  type  printed  on  it: 

LOST 

Gray  Ears,  The  Elephant 
Large  and  Suitable 
Reward  if  Returned 

to 
The  Very  Biggest  Circus 

"'Goodness,'  I  cried  at  the  sight  of  it, 
'we  must  be  careful  else  some  one  will  capture 
you  and  take  you  back  home  before  you  are 
ready  to  go!' 

"Careful,  bosh,'  retorted  Gray  Ears.  'Why 
begin  being  careful  when  I  am  already  cap- 
tured?' 

116 


DAN  PARTS  WITH  OLD  FRIENDS 

" Already  captured!'  I  exclaimed  in  amaze- 
ment.   'By  whom?' 

'Why,'  said  he,  'by  none  other  than 
Diggeldy  Dan.' 

"But  I  don't  understand,'  I  began.     'You 
mean— 

'That  you  are  to  take  me  back  to  the 
Very  Biggest  Circus  and  claim  the  reward — 
the  reward  of  being  allowed  to  be  one  of  its 
clowns.  So  come  now,  make  haste  and  let  us 
break  camp.  For  we  must  be  ready  to  enter 
the  big  tent  to-night  and  between  now  and 
then  we  have  a  long  way  to  go.' ' 


117 


CHAPTER  XV 

IN     WHICH     DAN     AND     GRAY     EARS     ARRIVE     AT 
THEIR   GOAL 

OME  day  I  may  relate  the  happenings 
that  fell  to  our  lot  between  the  heart 
of  the  woods  and  the  great  river's 
edge,"  continued  Diggeldy  Dan.  "But  I  fancy 
you  are  just  now  most  impatient  to  learn  ex- 
actly what  came  to  pass  when  Gray  Ears  and 
I  reached  our  long  journey's  end.  So,  suppose 
we  all  shut  our  eyes  very  tight,  give  a  marvel- 
ous jump  and,  thus  leaving  the  point  where 
breakfast  was  had,  land  plump  on  the  spot 
from  whence  I  got  my  first  glimpse  of  the 
tents  that  were  to  be  my  new  home. 

"The  day  was  most  done  when,  forcing  his 
way  through  a  thicket,  Gray  Ears  emerged  on 
a  grass-covered  ridge  that  reclined  with  its 
head  in  the  woods  and  its  feet  at  the  brim 
of  a  river.  The  stream  wound  to  the  north 

118 


DAN  AND  GRAY  EARS  ARRIVE 

and  to  the  south,  while  just  across  it — and 
so  very  near  the  bank  that  one  wondered  the 
buildings  did  not  tumble  into  the  water — lay 
a  city.  And  within  the  city — close  by  the 
edge  that  was  nearest  us — sprawled  a  great, 
billowing  something  of  dazzling  white.  This 
something  swayed  gently  in  the  sun's  lowering 
rays  or  waved  to  the  breeze  with  its  pennants 
and  flags  of  yellow  and  blue.  Yes,  there  it 
lay,  quite  as  if  it  awaited  our  coming — the 
home  of  the  biggest  circus  of  all. 

"And  to-night,  when  darkness  has  come, 
we  shall  both  cross  the  river  and  so  reach  the 
very  rear  of  the  tents,'  said  Gray  Ears,  as  his 
eyes  followed  mine  over  the  face  of  the  stream. 

"Is  it  there  we  will  cross?'  I  asked,  as  I 
pointed  toward  a  massive  iron  bridge. 

'What!  And  meet  no  end  of  persons  and 
things!  Certainly  not.  I  have  a  far  better 
way.  But  we  must  bide  our  time  and  mean- 
while gather  a  supply  of  long,  trailing  vines, 
the  purpose  of  which  you  will  learn  later  on.' 
"So  the  last  hour  of  the  day  was  spent  in 
searching  the  woods  for  vinebranches,  being 
careful  to  select  only  those  that  were  well 

119 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

strung  with  leaves.  By  the  time  we  had 
completed  this  task  and  returned  to  the 
ridge,  darkness  had  fallen  and  the  lights  been 
set  twinkling  in  the  city  and  tents  that  lay 
over  the  stream. 

"'Now  all  is  ready,'  said  Gray  Ears.  And 
bidding  me  take  the  mass  of  vines  in  my 
arms,  he  put  his  trunk  about  my  waist  and 
lifted  me — not  to  my  place  on  his  foot — but  to 
the  very  tip-top  of  his  head.  And  as  I  knelt 
there,  with  the  vines  between  my  knees  and 
my  hands  clasping  fast  to  the  upper  edge  of 
his  ears,  the  big  fellow  swung  straight  down 
the  slope  and  walked  smack  into  the  river! 

"So  carefully  did  Gray  Ears  advance  that 
his  great  feet  made  hardly  a  splash.  I  could 
hear  only  a  soft,  gurgling  sound  that  came 
from  where  the  current,  suddenly  meeting  the 
side  of  what  it  probably  mistook  for  a  queer- 
fashioned  rock,  protested  in  some  little  sur- 
prise before  slipping  around  the  ends  of  it. 
Finally  even  this  murmuring  ceased.  All 
movement  seemed  stilled.  Looking  about  I 
saw  that  the  whole  of  Gray  Ears — not  count- 
ing the  top  of  his  head  and  a  part  of  his 

120 


DAN  AND  GRAY  EARS  ARRIVE 

trunk — had  become  submerged  in  the  depths 
of  the  stream.  And  so,  while  I  perched  in  my 
place — quite  as  though  I  were  voyaging  on 
the  back  of  a  turtle — Gray  Ears  swam  on. 

"All  went  as  it  should  until  we  reached  the 
very  middle  of  the  river.  Then  a  rowboat 
suddenly  shot  into  view  from  the  lee  of  a  low, 
wooded  island.  Two  men  were  in  it — one  at 
the  oars  and  the  other  idly  dangling  a  lantern 
from  his  place  in  the  bow.  It  was  headed 
straight  for  us.  Even  as  I  looked,  the  rays  of 
the  light  fell  full  on  my  face.  I  quickly 
crouched  down,  but  not  before  the  man  in  the 
bow  had  caught  sight  of  me. 

"A  clown!  A  clown!  A  sure-enough 
clown!'  cried  he  to  the  one  at  the  oars.  'Pull 
to  just  a  bit.  There!  No,  I  have  lost  him.' 
And  he  began  to  cast  about  with  the  lantern. 

"Meanwhile  I  felt  the  tip  of  Gray  Ears' 
trunk  pressed  close  to  the  side  of  my  head. 
Grasping  the  end  of  it,  I  held  it  up  to 
my  ear  while  through  it  came  a  whisper  in 
warning: 

"'Quick!  Down  on  your  knees — with  one 
arm  thrust  in  the  air.  We  must  escape  them 

121 


and  their  questions,  for  we  cannot  afford  the 
delay!' 

"Even  as  I  obeyed  I  could  feel  the  great 
trunk  winding  in  and  about  me,  and  knew 
that  Gray  Ears  was  wrapping  me  round  with 
the  trailing  ends  of  the  vines! 

"Meanwhile  the  man  with  the  lantern 
was  pointing  it  this  way  and  that,  while  his 
companion  kept  insisting  that  he  had  seen 
nothing  at  all. 

"'But  I  did/  he  protested.  'I  saw  the  whole 
of  his  round,  funny  face  and,  believe  it  or  not, 
he  was  sliding  along  on  the  top  of  the  water/ 

"At  this  reply  the  one  who  was  rowing 
almost  tumbled  over  with  laughter.  In  doing 
so  he  loosed  his  hold  on  the  oars  so  that  the 
boat  swung  about  and  so  almost  bumped  into 
Gray  Ears  and  me. 

"'There  goes  an  old  log  with  a  broken -off 
limb  all  covered  with  vines — how  would  it  do 
for  your  clown  who  sits  on  the  water?'  jeered 
the  doubting  one.  And,  he  still  poking  fun 
and  the  other  still  looking,  the  two  of  them 
passed  on,  while  we  again  took  to  our  course, 
to  finally  land  on  the  coveted  shore. 


DAN  AND  GRAY  EARS  ARRIVE 

"We  found  ourselves  standing  in  what 
seemed  to  be  a  yard  of  considerable  size  and 
skirted  on  all  but  the  river's  side  by  a  very 
tall  fence.  To  the  right  and  the  left  were 
gigantic  bunkers  piled  high  with  coal.  Between 
these  we  advanced,  but  had  gone  scarcely 
three  paces  when  we  came  face  to  face  with  a 
big,  bearded  watchman  who  carried  a  glaring 
white  light  in  one  of  his  hands  and  a  knotted, 
black  stick  in  the  other. 

"Hey,  there!'  he  cried.  'You  can't  come 
in  here.  It's  'gainst  the  rules.' 

"But,  sir,  we  must  do  so,'  I  pleaded. 
'We've  just  got  to  go  on.' 

' '  Got  to  nuthin','  retorted  the  man.  '  There's 
orders  writ  plain  as  paint.  Now  you  two 
gwan  right  back  into  the  river.' 

"And  he  turned  his  light  on  a  huge  board  of 
white  on  which  there  appeared  in  very  black 
letters: 

NOTICE 

All  Persons  Are  Warned  to  Keep  Off  These 
Premises 

'Yes,'    I    cried,    'but   that   can't   possibly 
123 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

mean  us  because  we're  not  persons  but  just 
Gray  Ears  and  Diggeldy  Dan.' 

"Not  persons,  eh,'  repeated  the  watchman 
as  he  scratched  his  head,  'Well,  now,  I  don't 
know  about  that — ' 

"' Besides,'  rumbled  Gray  Ears,  'you  see 
the—' 

"And  he  placed  the  nose  of  his  trunk  near 
the  big  watchman's  ear  and  whispered  some- 
thing I  couldn't  quite  hear. 

"'Oh!'  came  the  reply,  'Oh,  in  that  case — 
of  course.  Why  in  the  world  didn't  you  say 
so  at  first!' 

"While  to  my  utter  surprise,  he  hurried  to 
the  gates  that  led  to  the  street,  unfastened  the 
lock  and  threw  them  apart  with  so  much  of  a 
flourish  that  one  might  have  supposed  us  a 
prince  and  his  train. 

"Through  the  opening  strode  Gray  Ears  and 
we  were  once  more  on  our  way.  Long  rows  of 
warehouses  as  dark  and  as  silent  as  the  depths 
of  the  night  now  shut  the  Very  Biggest  Circus 
from  view.  But  over  the  edge  of  their  frown- 
ing black  tops  a  warm,  yellow  glow  lighted 
the  face  of  the  sky.  And  we  knew  that  this 

124 


DAN  AND  GRAY  EARS  ARRIVE 

came    from   the    tents    for    which    we    were 
bound. 

"Up  street  and  down  street  the  two  of  us 
went,  meeting  no  one  at  all.  And  then,  of  a 
sudden,  our  path  was  beset  by  a  burly 
policeman  who  seemed  not  one  whit  less  than 
a  whole  half-mile  tall.  There  he  stood — 
twirling  his  moustache  and  his  round,  polished 
club,  and  whistling  a  tune  from  over  the  seas. 
But  at  sight  of  us  he  shut  his  lips  with  a 
start,  brought  his  club  to  his  side  and,  raising 
one  hand,  signaled  an  immediate  halt. 

"Stop!'  he  commanded.    'You  cannot  come 
down  this  street.' 

"But  Oh!  Mr.  Policeman,  we  just  have 
to/  I  cried. 

'"Sorry,  but  this  is  a  one  way  thoroughfare. 
Vehicles  can't  move  in  the  direction  you  are 
going.  You'll  have  to  turn  back.' 

'Yes,'   argued   I,   'but   Gray   Ears   isn't  a 
vehicle — he's  only  an  elephant.' 

"Makes  no  difference,'  answered  the  police- 
man. 'Orders  are  orders  and  no  exceptions 
made.' 

"And  with  that  he  began  to  twirl  his  club 
125 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

once  again  and  to  parade  back  and  forth  as  if 
to  guard  the  whole  width  of  the  street. 

"'But,  you  see,  Mr.  Blue-Coat/  began 
Gray  Ears.  And  he  finished  the  sentence  in  a 
whisper  with  his  trunk  against  the  other's 
right  ear. 

' '  O — o — oh ! '  exclaimed  the  policeman.  *  Oh 
— why,  go  right  ahead.  Oh,  I'm  sorry  to  have 
delayed  you.' 

"While  he  actually  stood  at  salute  as  we 
once  more  moved  on  our  way!  Determining 
to  ask  my  companion  very  soon  what  it 
was  he  had  said  to  the  watchman  and  to  the 
one  in  buttons  and  blue,  I  held  fast  to  the 
big  fellow's  ears  and,  peering  ahead,  awaited  a 
glimpse  of  the  tents.  Then,  turning  a  corner, 
we  came  into  a  street  and  there — away  at  the 
foot  of  it — lay  the  goal  that  we  sought,  all 
flooded  with  lights  of  amber  and  gold. 

"At  sight  of  the  tents  Gray  Ears  came  to  a 
stop  in  the  shelter  of  a  well-shadowed  wall  and, 
placing  his  trunk  round  my  waist,  lifted  me 
from  his  head  to  the  ground. 

"Here,  Friend  Dan,  we  find  ourselves  at 
our  journey's  end.  A  minute  more  and  we 

126 


DAN  AND  GRAY  EARS  ARRIVE 

shall  have  entered  the  great  tent  and  you 
claimed  the  reward  of  finding  and  returning 
Gray  Ears,  the  Elephant.  It  is  then  that  you 
will  take  your  place  among  the  clowns  and  I 
go  back  to  my  station.  We  have  had  our 
holiday  together  and  a  right  merry  one  it  has 
been.  Who  knows — perhaps  we  shall  one  day 
repeat  it  again.  In  the  meantime  do  not  be 
surprised  if  I  cease  speaking  to  you.  For, 
unless  I  am  away  from  the  circus,  I  rarely 
talk  to  anyone.  Indeed  you  might  spend 
months  upon  months  with  the  Very  Biggest 
Circus  and  yet  never  hear  one  of  its  animals 
utter  so  much  as  a  word. 

"And  now,'  he  added,  in  that  business-like 
tone  which  he  assumed  at  times,  'let  us  decide 
upon  the  manner  in  which  we  will  enter  the 
greatest  tent.  First  of  all  we  will  arrange  the 
placard  that  I  found  tacked  to  the  tree  and 
which  I  believe  you  have  in  the  top  of  your 
hat.  Here  is  a  stick  of  charcoal  which  I 
picked  up  in  the  coal  yard  as  we  passed 
through  the  gates.  On  the  side  of  the  card 
that  is  blank  you  must  write  in  a  very  bold 
hand: 

127 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

FOUND 
By  Diggeldy  Dan 

"Taking  the   marker  I   did   as   he   wished. 

"'Excellent,'  approved  Gray  Ears.  'This  I 
will  take  charge  of  and  display  in  proper 
fashion  when  we  make  our  grand  entrance. 
You,  on  your  part,  will  stand  on  my  back. 
Now  then — up  you  go!' 

"And  with  that  I  was  swung  into  place. 
Next,  Gray  Ears  wrapped  the  long,  leaf- 
covered  streamers  around  his  neck  and  looped 
one  of  them  well  into  his  mouth  quite  as  a 
horse  wears  a  bridle  and  bit.  Then  he  tossed 
me  the  ends  which  I  wound  around  my  wrists 
just  as  you  have  seen  the  driver  of  many 
horses  do  with  the  ends  of  his  reins.  Next  I 
sprang  upright  on  Gray  Ears'  broad  back. 
There  I  stood,  feet  apart,  my  head  held  erect, 
leaning  backward  and  aslant,  but  kept  well  in 
place  by  the  vine-reins  that  led  from  my 
ponderous  mount's  mouth. 

"Are  you  ready,   Friend  Dan?'   came  the 
rumbling  cry. 

128 


DAN  AND  GRAY  EARS  ARRIVE 

"  Every  bit  of  me,'  I  called  in  reply. 
"Then,  not  answering  in  words  but  with  a 
trumpeted  note  of  much  triumph,  Gray  Ears 
moved  forward  while  I,  my  suit  flapping  in 
the  breeze  brought  about  by  his  speed,  lay 
back  on  the  reins  much  as  the  driver  of  a 
thundering  chariot  rests  upon  his,  and  won- 
dered and  waited  and  watched." 


129 


CHAPTER  XVI 

IN  WHICH  DAN  JOINS  THE  VERY  BIGGEST  CIRCUS 


had  Gray  Ears  taken  such  stu- 
pendous  strides,"  said  Diggeldy  Dan, 
as  he  once  more  went  on  with  his 
story.  "So  "ast  did  he  move  that  in  less  than 
a  minute  we  had  reached  the  edge  of  the  light 
that  spread  like  a  fan  round  the  tents.  And 
then  we  plunged  into  the  midst  of  it  to  find 
ourselves  in  the  very  back  yard  of  the  circus. 

"Through  the  maze  of  red  wagons  the  two 
of  us  went,  past  little  white  tents  that  shim- 
mered with  light,  and  next  —  in  much  slower 
and  more  methodical  fashion  —  picked  our  way 
through  the  groups  of  playful,  plumed  ponies, 
each  decked  with  trappings  that  shone  like 
the  stars.  Past  these  went  the  both  of  us  — 
past  these  and  strange  men  and  strange 
women,  too,  all  dressed  in  gay  costumes  of 
every  color  and  hue.  But  at  sight  of  the  latter, 

130 


DAN  JOINS  THE  BIGGEST  CIRCUS 

Gray  Ears  warned  me  to  drop  down  on  his 
back  and  hide  quickly  away  in  the  long,  wind- 
ing vines.  And  when  I  had  done  so — without 
once  being  seen — he  headed  straight  for  the 
rear  of  the  greatest  of  tents,  from  whence 
came  the  sound  of  the  circus. 

"How  it  fell  on  the  air  and  fell  on  the  ear — 
a  mingling  of  music  and  the  hum  of  the 
crowd,  blended  with  hoof  beats  and  laughter! 
Now  naught  save  a  curtain  divided  us  from  the 
all  of  it,  and  this  Gray  Ears  thrust  back  with 
a  swing  of  his  trunk.  And  then,  in  the  space 
of  much  less  than  a  wink,  what  wonders  came 
into  view! 

"There  were  people  to  the  left  of  us,  people 
to  the  right  of  us,  and  still  more  across  from 
us,  all  terraced  in  masses  around  a  tent  so 
tremendous  that  its  far  ends  were  lost  in  a 
shadowy  haze.  There  were  pretty  ladies  to 
the  left  of  us,  pretty  ladies  to  the  right  of  us, 
and  pretty  ladies  in  front  of  us,  all  mounted 
on  horses  that  ran  round  the  rings.  There 
was  a  ringmaster  to  the  left  of  us,  another  to 
the  right  of  us,  and  a  third  just  before  us,  each 
arrayed  in  the  latest  of  fashionable  dress.  And, 

131 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

high  up  above  us,  were  splashes  of  red  and 
dashes  of  blue  that  were  reflected  from  the 
sides  of  the  massive  round  poles  that  held  the 
huge  tent  in  its  place.  There  was  the  sheen  of 
the  sawdust  and  the  gray  of  the  roof;  the 
clusters  of  golden  lights  that  flooded  the  air 
and  flooded  the  ground,  and  the  clusters  of 
silver  lights  over  the  rings  at  the  ends  that 
looked  in  the  distance  like  bits  of  the  moon. 

"And  into  the  midst  of  this  hoopla  and 
whirl,  into  the  heart  of  the  Very  Biggest 
Circus  stepped  Gray  Ears,  with  me  hidden 
away  on  his  back.  So  quickly,  indeed,  had  he 
come  through  the  doorway  that  those  in  the 
rings  and  those  in  the  crowd  did  not  know  of 
his  presence  until  he  was  well  into  the  tent. 
And  then  he  was  discovered  from  all  sides  at 
once. 

"Hey,  lookit!    Hey,  lookit!'  cried  those  to 
the  left  and  those  to  the  right. 

'Well,  of  all  unheard-of  things!'  the  pretty 
ladies  exclaimed  as  they  brought  their  mounts 
to  a  halt. 

"'Now  tell  us  at  once,'  the  three  ringmasters 
demanded,  each  stamping  his  foot  as  if  to 

132 


DAN  JOINS  THE  BIGGEST  CIRCUS 

resent  it,  *  what's  the  meaning  of  this  strange 
interruption ! ' 

'Yes,  do  so,  right  now!'  every  fair  rider 
protested  as  she  gave  a  toss  of  her  head  to 
prove  that  she  meant  it. 

"But  for  answer  Gray  Ears  merely  kept  on 
his  way,  down  the  track  that  circled  the  tent. 
Still  onward  he  went  around  the  most  distant 
ring — one  of  those  with  the  cluster  of  silvery 
lights  that  looked  like  bits  of  the  moon.  And 
trailing  behind  in  most  persistent  fashion 
came  the  trio  of  ringmasters  all  talking  at 
once  and  urging  that  Gray  Ears  begone  to  his 
station. 

"Yet  never  a  sound  did  the  big  fellow  utter 
until  he  had  reached  the  ring  in  the  center. 

"Cling  fast  and  be  ready,'  then  came  his 
command  as  the  end  of  his  trunk  brushed  the 
vines  near  my  ear.  And  kneeling  and  holding 
the  placard  on  high,  he  gravely  bowed  to  the 
crowd  and  bowed  to  the  riders  and  bowed  to 
the  ringmasters  three. 

"Found!'  they  all  cried  as  they  read  the 
words  I  had  written,  *  Found  by  Diggeldy 
Dan!' 

133 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"'But  who,'  puzzled  all  in  the  very  next 
breath,  'is  this  one  called  Diggeldy  Dan?' 

"'And  where  may  he  be?'  questioned  the 
ringmasters  three,  as  they  all  cracked  their 
whips  for  attention. 

"'Yes— 

where — 
is — 
he?' 

demanded  four  separate  voices,  each  of  the 
four  of  them  supplying  a  word.  While  into 
the  ring  stepped  the  men  who  had  spoken, 
all  wearing  black  suits  and  high  hats  of  silk 
and  mustaches  as  dark  as  the  tips  of  their 
boots. 

"'WV  said  the  first. 

"'Will,'  added  the  second. 

"Reward,'  spoke  the  third. 

"Him,'  finished  the  fourth. 

"And  each  drew  a  purse  from  his  pocket. 

"At  the  very  same  moment  Gray  Ears  put 
down  the  card  and,  lifting  both  me  and  the 
vines  from  his  back  laid  the  queer-looking 
bundle  at  the  feet  of  the  four.  No  sooner  had 

134 


DAN  JOINS  THE  BIGGEST  CIRCUS 

he  done  so  than  I  thrust  the  branches  aside, 
jumped  to  my  toes  and  bowed  low  to  those  at 
whose  feet  I'd  been  placed. 

"'Who— 
may — 
you — 
be?' 

exclaimed  the  four  in  surprise. 

'Why,  the  one  who  found  Gray  Ears,'  I 
cried  in  reply,  'none  other  than  Diggeldy 
Dan!' 

"Now  at  the  sight  of  my  face  and  my 
polka-dot  suit  and  the  sound  of  my  ting-a-ling 
name,  all  the  children  immediately  rose  in 
their  seats  and  began  to  shout  and  to  sing: 

"'O,  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan, 
O,  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan: 
Do  play  some  pranks  for  us,  Diggeldy  Dan!' 

"But  at  this  the  four  frowned  and  held  up 
four  separate  hands,  whereat  the  three  ring- 
masters again  cracked  their  whips  and  called 
for  all  to  be  silent.  And  then  the  four  opened 
their  purses. 

135 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"'No!  No!  Not  a  penny!'  cried  I,  as 
I  watched  them,  'for  it's  not  that  kind  of  a 
reward  that  I'd  like  best  to  request.' 

'"Ah,  ha!'  said  the  first. 

"'Oh,  ho!'  winked  the  second. 

'"What  then? '  queried  the  third. 

"Is  your  wish?'  asked  the  last. 

"Just  to  stay  with  you  always,'  I  answered 
the  four  of  them,  'to  be  one  of  your  clowns,  to 
cut  pranks  for  the  children,  and  sometimes  see 
Gray  Ears,  the  Elephant.' 

"Granted  most  gladly,'  each  and  all  of 
them  cried,  while  the  children  added  their 
welcome;  'this  very  night  you  shall  take  your 
place  with  the  rest,  so  make  ready  at  once  to 
join  with  them.' 

"I  answered  this  speech  with  another  low 
bow  and  then  skipped  to  where  Gray  Ears 
was  standing.  At  a  nod  of  his  head  I  mounted 
his  foot  and  held  fast  to  his  knee  while,  amid 
shouts  of  delight  from  the  children,  the  big 
fellow  set  off  in  very  grand  style  toward  his 
home  in  the  menagerie  tent. 

'"Gray  Ears,'  I  questioned,  as  we  came 
almost  to  it,  'now  do  tell  me  what  it  was  you 

136 


DAN  JOINS  THE  BIGGEST  CIRCUS 

said  to  the  watchman  and  what  it  was  you 
whispered  in  the  policeman's  right  ear?' 

'Why,'  began  he,  'But  see  what  is  happen- 
ing! There!  On  down  the  tent!' 

"What  I  saw  as  I  looked  was  whole  dozens 
of  clowns  pouring  in  through  the  curtain  we 
had  passed  when  we  came.  Peal  after  peal  of 
merriest  laughter  attended  the  sight  of  them. 
But  amid  it  and  the  music  we  could  hear 
voices  calling: 

"'O,  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan, 
Where's  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan?' 

'What  I  whispered,'  said  Gray  Ears,  again 
answering  my  question,  'was  simply,  "The 
children  are  waiting  for  us."  And,  from  the 
sound  of  the  shouts  that  are  now  greeting  our 
ears,  I  think  I  wasn't  far  wrong.  So  go  now; 
go  to  those  who  are  calling  your  name.' 

"As  he  finished  he  gave  me  a  gentle  shove 
with  his  trunk  and  turned  to  go  into  the 
menagerie  tent,  while  I  skipped  gayly  away  to 
join  the  rest  of  the  clowns. 

"And  with  that,"  ended  Dan,  "you  have 
heard  the  whole  of  my  story." 

137 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Did  Gray  Ears  ever  run  away  any  more?" 
asked  Camel. 

"Time's  up!  Time's  up!"  called  Hippo, 
who  had  on  this  day  been  placed  in  charge  of 
the  Watch. 

"Away  to  your  places,  then,"  ordered  Dig- 
geldy  Dan,  "and  to-morrow  we'll  meet  once 
again.  For  though  my  tale's  at  an  end,  we 
may  safely  depend  that  another  will  soon 
follow  after." 


138 


CHAPTER  XVII 

IN   WHICH    THE   ANIMALS    ENTERTAIN   AN 
UNEXPECTED   CALLER 

IN  Spangleland's  realm  are  many  massive 
blue  poles,  and  among  the  biggest  of  these 
are  those  that  stand  in  the  center  of  the 
menagerie  tent.    Between  the  bases  of  two  of 
them  is  a  broad,  open  space,  and  it  was  here 
all  the  animals  were   gathered  at  twilight  on 
the  day  following  that  upon  which  had  ended 
the  tale  of  Gray  Ears,  the  Elephant. 

"And  I'm  sure  all  remember  your  very  last 
words,"  Lion  was  saying  to  Diggeldy  Dan. 
"As  I  recall  them  they  ran  something  like 
this:  'For  though  my  tale's  at  an  end  we  may 
safely  depend  that  another  will  soon  follow 
after.'" 

"Exactly,"  said  Dan.  "And  now  comes  the 
question  as  to  who's  to  provide  the  next 
story." 

139 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

But,  to  the  clown's  great  surprise,  not  a 
single  animal  made  answer. 

"My  goodness!"  he  cried,  as  he  swung 
around  on  Hippo's  vast  back  the  better  to  be 
able  to  face  them,  "do  you  mean  to  say  that 
not  one  of  you  has  thought  of  a  story?  Why, 
Mr.  President,  I  am  indeed  astounded!  I — " 

"Aw,  now,  Dan,  don't  be  talking  like  that," 
protested  Monkey.  "I  know  a  lot  of  stories 
only  I  just  can't  remember  one  right  now." 

"And  those  I  know  are  all  so  very  old," 
pleaded  Great  White  Bear,  while  all  the  rest 
seemed  ready  to  excuse  themselves  on  much 
the  same  score. 

"Well,"  said  Lion,  "in  view  of  all  this, 
there  seems  to  be  but  one  thing  to  do  and  that 
is  to  put  on  our  thinking  caps  and  not  take 
them  off  until  each  has  thought  of  a  story. 
So  let  us  get  down  to  business  at  once.  Tiger, 
you  will  kindly  come  forward  and  stretch 
yourself  on  the  ground.  There — that  is  the 
way.  Now,  then,  do  you  slowly  wave  your 
tail  from  one  side  to  the  other.  Exactly. 
You,  Dan,  will  keep  count  of  the  tailwaves 
until  you  have  recorded  exactly  one  hundred. 

140 


THE  ANIMALS  ENTERTAIN 

And  until  that  number  is  reached  there's  not 
to  be  a  word  from  a  one  of  you.  Instead,  you 
are  to  keep  silent  and  think.  All  ready  now — 
go!" 

At  this  word  of  command  Tiger's  tail  began 
to  rise  and  to  fall  and  Dan's  head  to  nod  down 
and  then  up  as  he  kept  exact  track  of  the 
waves  of  it.  Quite  at  the  same  time  all  the 
others  solemnly  puckered  their  brows,  half 
closed  their  eyes,  or  pillowed  their  chins  as 
folks  always  do  when  they  engage  in  deep 
thought. 

Time  passed. 

Tiger's  tail  floated  up  and  down  through  the 
air. 

Dan's  head  continued  to  bob  and  to  count. 

Lion  gazed  about  with  so  severe  an  eye  that 
hardly  an  animal  dared  breathe.  Not  a  sound 
broke  the  silence.  And  then,  of  a  sudden — ! 

Tap!    Tap!    Tap! 

Now  the  taps  were  not  specially  loud  and, 
aside  from  that  fact,  there  is,  as  a  rule,  nothing 
particularly  unusual  about  an  innocent  tap, 
nor,  for  that  matter,  about  two  nor  yet  three 
of  them. 

141 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

But,  in  this  case,  you  see — everything  was 
so  very  still  with  even  Monkey  not  so  much  as 
uttering  a  sound,  that — 

Tap!    Tap!    Tap! 

There  it  was  again! 

And,  oddest  of  all,  it  seemed  to  come  from 
a  point  high  over  their  heads. 

Tap!    Tap!    Tap! 

And  at  this  you  may  be  sure  the  business  of 
thinking  of  stories  was  entirely  forgotten. 
Instead,  every  ear  was  alert.  It  now  seemed 
certain  that  the  taps  had  come  from  the  top 
of  the  biggest  blue  pole. 

"Ahoy,  whoever  you  are — what  is  it  you 
want?"  called  Lion,  as  he  directed  his  eyes  and 
his  voice  toward  that  point  in  the  roof  where 
the  pole  passed  through  to  the  skies. 

Tap!    Tap!    Tap!  came  the  answer. 

"Come  in!"  roared  Lion,  "Come  in  at  once, 
whatever  you  are  and  wherever  you  are!" 

"Let  me  skip  up  the  side  of  the  pole  and 
see  just  what  it  can  be,"  cried  Monkey. 

But  just  at  that  moment  there  came  a 
muffled  voice  from  the  roof — a  voice  that  was 
something  between  a  caw  and  a  croak. 

142 


THE  ANIMALS  ENTERTAIN 

"Menagerie  tent,  Spangleland?"  it  called 
down. 

"Yes,  Mr.  Voice,  you  are  in  Spangleland 
and  this  is  the  menagerie  tent,"  answered 
Lion.  "And  now  if  you  will  be  so  good  as  to 
come  out  of  hiding — " 

But  even  while  Lion  was  speaking  a  move- 
ment was  seen  and  with  it  appeared  two  very 
black  feet.  These  were  followed  by  the  under 
side  of  an  even  blacker  body;  with  a  long, 
pointed  beak  coming  after.  And  thus,  bit  by 
bit,  there  gradually  emerged  the  whole  of  a 
crow  of  quite  remarkable  size. 

Now  those  who  gazed  upward  at  this  strange 
visitor  were  immediately  struck  by  three  most 
unusual  things.  In  the  first  place  their  caller's 
head  was  almost  wholly  concealed  by  a 
messenger's  cap  that  was  much  too  large  for 
him.  Secondly,  he  walked  down  the  side  of 
the  pole  when  to  have  flown  would  have  been 
a  far  simpler  way.  And,  thirdly,  instead  of 
showing  some  interest  in  his  surroundings  as 
he  entered,  he  preferred  to  bury  his  nose  in  the 
crook  of  what  must  have  been  a  most  enter- 
taining book.  Indeed  he  did  not  once  look  up 

143 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

until  he  had  set  his  feet  on  the  ground.  And 
then  it  was  to  find  himself  surrounded  by  all 
the  animals. 

"Lion,  Lion — Mister  Lion,"  he  inquired 
rather  briskly  as  he  tucked  his  book  under  one 
wing  and  scanned  the  many  faces. 

"At  your  service,"  responded  Lion  as  he 
stepped  forward. 

:'Yes,  sir,  yes,  sir — Message  for  you,  sir," 
and  removing  his  cap  with  something  of  a 
flourish,  the  crow  took  a  bit  of  folded  paper 
from  out  the  crown  of  it. 

"Well,  well!"  exclaimed  Lion  as  he  opened 
the  missive  and  glanced  at  its  contents, 
"though  addressed  in  my  care  it's  really  for 
all  of  us." 

"Yes,  but  what  is  it?"  cried  the  animals. 

"Why,  a  message  from  the  Pretty  Lady  with 
the  Blue-Blue  Eyes.  Here  is  what  she  says: 

"'Care  of  Lion, 

"'Menagerie  Tent,  Spangleland: 

"'I  and  my  White- White  Horse  will  be  quite  near  you 
at  half-past  twilight  on  the  morrow.  So  please  be  at 
home,  for  it  is  very  likely  we  will  pay  you  a  visit. 

"'The  Pretty  Lady.'" 
144 


THE  ANIMALS  ENTERTAIN 

"Oh,  hurrah,  hurrah!"  shouted  all  the 
animals  in  one  breath  while  Dan  clapped  his 
hands  with  much  glee. 

"You  are,  indeed,  a  most  welcome  mes- 
senger," remarked  Lion,  as  he  turned  to 
where  the  crow  had  been  standing.  But,  to 
his  surprise,  the  somber  chap  in  the  cap  was 
no  longer  there.  Instead,  he  had  perched 
himself  on  a  wheel  of  Giraffe's  spacious  home. 
Yes,  there  he  sat,  once  more  reading  his  book, 
and,  in  addition,  was  now  slowly  munching  an 
apple. 

"I  say,"  repeated  Lion,  "a  most  welcome 
messenger."  And  this  time  he  laid  so  much 
stress  on  the  very  last  word  that  the  crow 
jumped  from  the  wheel  in  the  greatest  of 
haste. 

"Yes,  sir!  Yes,  sir!"  he  answered  as  he 
vainly  tried  to  stuff  both  the  book  and  the 
apple  under  one  wing.  "Calling  a  messenger, 
were  you,  sir?" 

At  which  all  the  animals  laughed  so  heartily 
that  the  crow  looked  quite  confused  and 
muttered  something  about  "time  to  be  going." 

"But  not  unless  you  are  entirely  ready  to 
145 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

leave,"  remonstrated  Lion,  "for  I  assure  you 
that  you  are  quite  welcome  to  remain  and 
finish  your  apple  and  your  book,  also,  if  you 
choose.  You  flew  all  the  way  from  Sunset 
House,  I  presume?" 

"Well,  I  should  rather  say  not!"  answered 
the  crow,  as  he  flipped  his  cap  to  one  side  with 
the  toes  of  one  foot.  "What  would  be  the 
fun  of  being  a  messenger-bird  if  one  had  to  fly 
all  the  time?" 

"Yes,  but  how  do  you  manage  it  other- 
wise?" questioned  Rhino. 

"Why,  jump  a  cloud  and  ride  it.  That's 
the  way  I  most  always  do.  Just  let  my  feet 
hang  over  the  end  and  read  my  book  until 
it's  time  to  hop  off." 

"Of  what  do  you  read?"  asked  Lion. 

"Oh,  it's  one  of  those  strange-people  books," 
answered  the  crow.  "I  like  to  read  about 
people.  They  do  such  funny  things,  don't 
they?  Well,  I  must  be  getting  up  in  the  air 
and  looking  for  a  cloud  that  is  going  toward 
the  west."  And  he  started  hopping  up  the 
side  of  the  very  biggest  pole. 

"Please  don't  go,"  coaxed  Ostrich.  "Stay 
146 


THE  ANIMALS  ENTERTAIN 

a  while  longer  and  tell  us  about  the  clouds. 
You  have  ridden  a  lot  of  them,  haven't  you?" 

"Oh,  I  guess  a  million  trillion  of  them,  at 
least,"  said  the  crow  in  a  superior  sort  of  way. 
"But  then  I  wouldn't  know  what  to  tell  you 
about  them.  You  should  ask  the  Pretty  Lady 
if  you  want  to  know  about  clouds.  She 
knows  stories  about  most  everything.  Besides, 
I  can't  spare  the  time  just  now." 

And  with  his  beak  once  more  buried  in  his 
book  the  bird  from  the  west  moved  slowly 
upward  toward  the  roof  to  finally  disappear 
at  that  point  where  the  pole  passed  through  to 
the  skies. 

"What  an  odd  individual,"  said  Puma. 
"I  wish  he  had  talked  more.  I  warrant  he 
could  tell  a  lot  of  fine  stories." 

"And  we  didn't  even  learn  his  name!" 
exclaimed  Emu. 

"We  must  ask  the  Pretty  Lady  about  him," 
said  Lion. 

"Isn't  it  fine  that  she's  coming  to-morrow," 
cried  Zebra.  "Perhaps  she  will  tell  us  another 
story." 

"No  doubt  she  will,"  put  in  Diggeldy  Dan. 
147 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"But  now  our  twilight's  last  moments  have 
come  so  we  will  bid  one  another  farewell  till 
to-morrow.  And  at  the  sign  of  the  Petal 
Watch  we  will  gather  again  to  be  ready  to 
greet  our  golden-haired  guest  when  she  comes 
with  her  prancing  steed  from  out  of  the 
west." 


148 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

IN    WHICH    THE    PRETTY    LADY    CARRIES    A    PAS- 
SENGER INTO  THE  WIDE  WIDE  WORLD 


"  y^NOME  come,  now!"  cried  Lion,  as  he 
i  hurried  about  with  all  the  bustle  and 

^"-^^  importance  of  the  grand  marshal  of 
some  holiday  parade,  "into  line  with  you!  No, 
no;  not  that  way  —  in  two  lines.  Just  as  we 
do  when  we  play  at  London  Bridge.  There! 
That's  more  like  it." 

It  was  on  the  evening  following  that  which 
had  brought  the  message  from  the  Pretty 
Lady  with  the  Blue-Blue  Eyes  and  the  great 
menagerie  tent  was  agog  with  excitement. 
Under  the  guidance  of  Lion  all  the  animals  of 
Spangleland  were  placing  themselves  in  a 
manner  befitting  the  approach  of  the  expected 
guest.  Thus  the  greater  part  of  them  were 
arranged  in  two  long,  parallel  rows;  though 
there  were  others  who  grouped  themselves  at 

149 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

the  head  and  the  foot  of  the  line.  These 
included  Giraffe  and  his  family  who  were 
stationed  at  the  top;  Monkey  and  his  folks 
who  stood  at  the  end  of  it;  and — Diggeldy 
Dan. 

Meantime  Lion  continued  to  give  instruc- 
tions, and  just  as  he  had  finished  there  came 
the  sound  of  a  neigh  through  the  twilight, 
followed  by  a  silvery  laugh  of  a  voice  well 
remembered.  Next  the  canvas  wall  gave  a 
billowing  bulge  and  then  opened  and  closed 
quite  like  the  curtains  in  a  Punch  and  Judy 
theater.  And  there,  standing  before  them, 
was  the  White- White  Horse  carrying  the  one 
for  whom  they  all  waited. 

"Why,  what  an  attractive  formation!"  the 
Pretty  Lady  exclaimed,  as  the  sweep  of  her 
blue  eyes  took  in  all  the  groupings.  "Is  it 
some  new  kind  of  a  game?" 

But  not  a  single  animal  made  answer. 

"What!  No  reply?"  she  went  on  in  sur- 
prise. "Can  it  be  the  kittens  have  gotten 
your  tongues?  But  no — there  must  be  some 
other  reason:  for  surely  there  is  the  tip  of 
something  quite  pink  peeping  from  between 

150 


THE  PRETTY  LADY  CARRIES  A  PASSENGER 

Tiger's  sharp  teeth.  Yes — now  all  becomes 
clear.  How  stupid  of  me  not  to  have  noticed 
before!  For  look  you,  my  White- White  Horse, 
these  are  not  sure-enough  animals,  but  just 
makebelieve  ones,  all  stuffed  with  straw  and 
sawdust  and  things.  So  come — let  us  go." 
And  she  made  as  if  to  turn  back. 

But  at  this  Giraffe  gave  a  vigorous  shake  of 
his  head. 

"Oh — ho!"  cried  the  Lady,  "so  you  actually 
can  move,  after  all!  But  why  do  you  and  your 
family  stand  at  the  head  of  the  line?" 

In  answer  Giraffe  took  a  bit  of  chalk  in  his 
mouth  and,  using  Hippo's  broad  back  for  a 
board,  scrawled, 

"Reception  Committee."  And  then  stepping 
forward,  he  made  an  extremely  low  bow. 

"While  I  am  its  chairman,"  Lion  announced. 

"Ah,  ha!  Now  I  see!"  the  Lady  replied; 
as  she  advanced  at  a  prance  on  the  White- 
White  Horse.  "But  you?"  she  inquired,  with 
a  nod  to  the  left  and  a  nod  to  the  right  toward 
those  drawn  up  in  two  rows. 

"We?"  they  all  chorused.  "Oh,  we  are 
the  audience.  We — " 

151 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Pretty  Lady!  Pretty  Lady!"  called  Mon- 
key from  his  place  at  the  end,  "don't  be 
talking  just  to  the  audience.  Please  ask  us 
what  we  are." 

"And  what,  indeed,  may  you  be?"  the 
Lady  laughed  back. 

"Why,  we  are  the  grooms  for  the  White- 
White  Horse,"  answered  the  merry-eyed  fellow 
as  he  proceeded  to  take  charge  of  her  mount. 

Then,  escorted  by  Lion  and  Dan — with 
Giraffe  and  his  folks  filing  in  close  behind — the 
Lady  was  led  to  a  gayly  striped  tub.  Once 
enthroned  on  the  top  of  it  she  again  looked 
about  to  find  all  the  "audience"  in  a  half- 
circle  before  her.  At  the  very  same  moment 
they  gave  three  ringing  cheers  and  then  took 
>  their  seats,  from  which  they  gazed  at  their 
visitor  in  rapt  expectation. 

"Well,  well;  and  now  that  is  over  with, 
what  comes  next?"  asked  she,  from  her  place 
on  the  tub. 

"Why,  a  story,  of  course,"  they  all  cried, 
quite  as  if  nothing  else  could  possibly  follow. 
"See,  we  are  waiting  for  you  to  begin." 

"But,"  protested  the  Lady,  "I'd  much 
152 


THE  PRETTY  LADY  CARRIES  A  PASSENGER 

rather  listen.  I'm  sure  that  would  prove 
whole  heaps  more  fun.  Indeed,  I  insist.  So, 
Lion,  suppose  you  select  the  one  who's  to  tell 
us  the  tale."  And  she  clapped  her  hands  at 
the  thought  of  it. 

But,  alas,  Lion  could  but  gaze  at  his  fellows 
and  then  back  at  the  Lady  in  silent  confusion. 

"To  tell  the  truth,  Pretty  Lady,"  he  finally 
replied,  "none  of  us  know  any  very  good  stories. 
Only  last  evening  we  tried  but  couldn't  think — 
not  even  of  one.  Of  course,  Dan  has  many 
wonderful  tales;  but  then  he  has  been  out  in 
the  great,  wide  world." 

"Oh,  dear,"  broke  in  Kangaroo  in  a  most 
wistful  tone,  "if  we  could  only  do  things  like 
Gray  Ears  and  Dan!" 

"If  we  only  could!"  exclaimed  Tiger,  "then 
we,  too,  would  have  stories  to  tell. " 

:<Yes,"  the  Pretty  Lady  said,  nodding  her 
head  and  speaking  very  thoughtfully,  "yes, 
that  is  true."  And  then  silence  fell  on  the 
group.  A  moment  later,  and  as  if  to  herself, 
she  added,  "Why,  why  not?  Yes,  it  could  be 
done.  I  can  arrange  to  take  them  and  then 
bring  them  back." 

153 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"What  is  it  you  are  saying?"  asked  Lion. 

"Just  this,"  answered  their  guest  as  she 
leaped  to  her  feet.  "I  was  wondering  how  I 
might  help  you  all  to  find  stories.  Now  of 
course  the  most  natural  way  is  to  have  you 
meet  with  adventure." 

"But  where?"  asked  Zebra. 

"Out  in  the  great  world,  to  be  sure.  Indeed 
there  is  no  reason  at  all  why  I  should  not 
carry  one  of  you  off  with  me  this  very  evening." 

"Oh,  let  me  go!  Let  me  go!"  cried  Monkey, 
dancing  up  and  down. 

"Be  silent,  sir,"  Lion  commanded.  "Per- 
haps, Pretty  Lady,  you  will  propose  the  one 
who  will  be  the  first  to  accompany  you." 

"But  would  not  the  drawing  of  lots  be  a 
much  happier  way?" 

"Draw  lots,  to  be  sure!"  they  all  echoed, 
in  answer. 

"I'll  attend  to  the  details,"  volunteered 
Diggeldy  Dan.  And  gathering  an  armful  of 
sweet-smelling  hay,  he  dashed  out  of  sight 
behind  Giraffe's  gilded  home.  Soon  he  re- 
turned with  a  bundle  of  straws  protruding  from 
his  tightly  clasped  hands.  Now  the  tops 

154 


THE  PRETTY  LADY  CARRIES  A  PASSENGER 

held  to  view  were  as  evenly  matched  as  the 
straws  in  a  very  new  broom;  while  the  opposite 
ends  were  completely  concealed  by  the  cuffs  of 
Dan's  baggy  white  sleeves. 

"Here,"  announced  he,  "are  the  same 
number  of  straws  as  there  are  animals  gathered 
together.  But  no  two  straws  are  of  quite  the 
same  length.  So — " 

"The  one  drawing  the  longest  of  all  in  the 
bundle  will  this  very  night  go  in  quest  of  a 
story,"  finished  the  Lady  with  a  nod  of 
approval. 

"Exactly,"  agreed  Dan. 

"Splendid,"  added  Lion.  And,  as  President 
of  Animals,  he  drew  the  first  one. 

"As  fast  as  you  draw  them,  you  must 
file  past  my  seat  and  lay  all  the  straws  on  the 
top  of  the  tub,"  the  Pretty  Lady  instructed. 
"Thus  we  will  find  who  is  possessed  of  the 
longest." 

So  forward  they  went  and,  as  you  may  well 
believe,  with  no  end  of  eager  wonderment. 
Meanwhile  the  Lady  added  zest  to  the  fun  by 
telling  off  the  lots  as  they  reached  her. 

:<Your  straw  is  the  longest,"  she  would  call 
155 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

as  they  passed — "  No !  No !  Here's  one  longer — 
My,  what  a  short  one! — Why,  who  could  have 
drawn  it? — Surely  not  Elephant! — Now  Hippo 
is  favored  and  Giraffe  has  been  bested — But 
just  for  the  moment  for  now  I've  another 
that's  quite  the  longest  drawn  yet." 

And  so,  the  Lady  comparing  all  the  straws 
laid  before  her,  the  last  of  the  animals  finally 
moved  down  the  tent  and  then,  doubling  back, 
returned  with  all  speed  to  their  places.  Every 
straw  being  drawn,  Dan  joined  the  Lady  and 
the  two  of  them  consulted  for  a  moment 
together. 

:<Yes,  his  is  the  longest — easily  the  longest," 
the  animals  overheard  the  two  judges  agree; 
and  every  ear  did  its  best  to  catch  the  sound 
of  a  name.  Then,  with  the  longest  straw  held 
far  aloft,  the  Pretty  Lady  skipped  straight  to 
where  all  the  bruins  were  grouped  and  touched 
one  on  the  head  with  the  tip  of  her  whip. 

"Little  Black  Bear!"  rose  the  cry  from  all 
sides.  For  it  was  he,  you  see,  who'd  been 
chosen. 

Now  for  a  moment  Little  Black  Bear  was 
so  taken  back  that  he  could  do  naught  but 

156 


THE  PRETTY  LADY  CARRIES  A  PASSENGER 

wrinkle  and  unwrinkle  the  end  of  his  nose. 
And  when  he  finally  found  his  voice  there  was 
so  much  commotion  that  no  one  heard  what 
he  said. 

"Hurry,  hurry!"  the  Pretty  Lady  was 
crying,  "for  we  must  be  well  out  of  Spangle- 
land  before  the  Petal  Watch  closes.  Lively, 
now,  Monkey,  and  bring  me  my  White- White 
Horse.  Come  Sir  Adventurer,  and  let  Ele- 
phant help  you  to  a  seat  just  behind  me." 

"With  the  greatest  of  pleasure,"  cried 
Elephant,  as  he  wound  his  great  trunk  around 
Little  Bear's  back  and  lifted  him  into  his 
place. 

"Hold  tight  to  my  waist,"  the  Lady  directed. 
"All  ready,  now — " 

"Wait,  wait!"  cried  Hippo,  "why  we  are 
sending  Little  Black  Bear  away  without  any 
lunch!" 

"Goodness,  so  we  are!"  Lion  exclaimed. 
"Be  quick,  some  of  you  and  see  what  can  be 
got  together." 

At  this  word  of  command  all  scurried  away 
in  every  direction  and  soon  there  had  been 
gathered  two  apples,  three  carrots,  an  orange, 

157 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

some  peanuts,  and  a  taffy-on-the-stick.  These 
were  hastily  placed  in  an  old  paper  bag  that 
Dan  dug  from  the  depths  of  his  pocket. 

"Now  at  last  we  are  off,"  the  Pretty  Lady 
declared,  as  the  bundle  was  tucked  under 
Black  Bear's  free  arm.  "Farewell  till  the 
twilight  shall  bring  us  back  once  again."  And 
away  through  the  half-light  the  three  of 
them  sped. 

"A  merry  journey!"  cried  some,  as  they 
followed  the  departing  ones  on  down  the  tent. 

"Be  sure  to  get  a  good  story,"  called 
others. 

"I  will,  I  will!"  came  the  answering  cry, 
and  with  a  neigh  from  the  Horse,  a  ringing 
laugh  from  the  Lady  and  a  last  paw-wave 
from  Little  Black  Bear,  the  three  travelers 
passed  through  a  rift  in  the  wall  and  were 
swallowed  by  the  gathering  dusk. 

"And  now,"  called  out  Dan,  "it  is  high 
time  that  we,  too,  were  fast  disappearing.  So 
away  every  one  of  you  and,  until  we  gather 
once  more,  there's  a  treat  in  the  thought  of 
what  a  story's  in  store." 


158 


CHAPTER  XIX 

IN  WHICH  LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  SPENDS  A  NIGHT 
IN  THE  FOREST 

NOW  when  the  White-White  Horse  dis- 
appeared through  the  dusk  with  the 
Pretty  Lady  and  Little  Black  Bear  on 
his  back,  his  feet  seemed  suddenly  shod  with 
wings.  Indeed,  he  traveled  so  very  swiftly 
that,  in  telling  of  it  afterward,  Little  Black  Bear 
was  never  quite  certain  that  they  had  not 
actually  skimmed  through  the  air.  But — as  he 
always  added  in  conclusion — whether  they  did 
or  did  not  made  no  very  great  difference.  The 
important  point  was  that  even  the  wind  could 
not  have  moved  faster,  so  that,  in  most  no 
time  at  all,  the  three  of  them  found  them- 
selves at  the  edge  of  a  very  black,  and  very 
deep,  and  very  great  forest. 

"What  a  wonderful  place!"  cried  Little  Black 
Bear.    "Do  let  us  go  on  into  the  depths  of  it!" 

159 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"No,"  answered  the  Lady,  as  she  brought 
the  White-White  Horse  to  a  halt.  "At  least 
I  may  not  go,  for  I  have  much  else  to  do. 
But  it  is  here  that  you  are  to  alight  and  set 
out  in  quest  of  your  story." 

"Oh,  that  will  be  fine,"  said  Little  Black 
Bear,  as  he  prepared  to  climb  to  the  ground. 
And  then,  hesitating  for  a  moment,  he  added, 
"But  how  am  I  to  get  back  to  the  menagerie 
tent?" 

"Trust  me  for  that,"  the  Lady  replied, 
"for  in  due  time  I  shall  come  to  you  again  and 
then  the  three  of  us  will  once  more  return  to 
Spangleland." 

And  as  her  wiggley-nosed  passenger  scram- 
bled down,  the  goldenhaired  one  bade  him  a 
merry  farewell  and  was  gone. 

For  a  moment  Little  Black  Bear  stood 
looking  after  the  fleeting  forms  and  then,  turn- 
ing his  face  toward  the  forest  and  tucking  his 
lunch  bag  more  securely  under  one  arm,  he 
waddled  into  the  deepening  gloom  as  quickly 
as  his  rather  short  legs  would  carry  him. 

"Why,  it  must  be  here  that  the  circus  gets 
all  its  poles,"  he  exclaimed,  as  he  looked  about 

160 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  IN  THE  FOREST 

at  the  tremendously  tall  trees.  "Goodness, 
the  number  of  them!  And  the  size!  There's 
one  that's  every  bit  as  big  around  as  Hippo; 
and  another  that's  even  larger  than  Elephant." 
He  recalled  what  the  crow  in  the  messenger's 
cap  had  said  about  a  million  trillion  clouds. 
"Yes,"  he  said,  wagging  his  head  rather  wisely, 
"there  must  easily  be  that  many  trees." 

So,  talking  to  himself  as  he  went,  and  pick- 
ing his  way  around  the  ends  of  gray,  gnarled 
logs,  Little  Black  Bear  trudged  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  forest.  As  he  advanced  the 
gloom  changed  to  night,  and,  though  the 
traveler's  eyes  were  very  bright  and  quite 
used  to  the  dark,  he  finally  decided  to  find  a 
resting  place  until  morning. 

Now,  Little  Black  Bear  had  never  spent  a 
night  in  the  woods  but  was,  on  the  contrary, 
accustomed  to  snuggling  close  in  the  straw  on 
the  floor  of  a  splendid  red  and  gold  cage. 
Still,  he  had  often  heard  his  elders  tell  of  the 
great  wide  world  and  he  knew  that  hollow 
trees  were  supposed  to  make  ideal  lodging 
places.  So  he  immediately  set  about  to  find 
one.  He  had  not  far  to  look,  for  very  soon  he 

161 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

came  to  a  tree  of  unusual  size  and  there,  in 
its  base,  was  a  most  inviting  black  hole. 
Going  up  to  it,  he  found  that  the  hole  opened 
into  a  round  room  in  the  trunk.  The  floor 
of  the  room  was  packed  close  with  leaves  that 
crackled  under  foot  as  their  visitor  stepped 
over  them. 

"Why,  I  shall  be  most  comfortable  here," 
cried  Little  Black  Bear,  "I  had  no  idea  one 
could  find  such  houses  as  this  away  in  the 
depths  of  the  forest." 

In  fact  the  discovery  so  delighted  him  that 
he  began  to  sing  the  merriest  kind  of  a  tune 
and,  noting  that  the  walls  of  the  tree  caused 
his  voice  to  seem  much  deeper  than  it  really 
was,  he  sang  the  song  all  over  again.  Next 
— because  he  loved  to  hear  the  leaves  crinkle 
and  crunch — he  broke  into  a  jig  and  ended  by 
rolling  over  and  over  on  the  floor.  But  in 
doing  this  he  all  but  crushed  the  paper  bag 
which  held  his  lunch  and  that  caused  him  to 
remember  that  perhaps  he  should  dine  before 
going  to  bed.  So,  getting  up,  he  went  out  into 
the  open  and  sat  down  with  his  back  to  the 
tree.  Here  he  undid  the  bag  and  rummaged 

162 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  IN  THE  FOREST 

inside  with  his  paw.  He  was  very  much 
tempted  to  eat  the  taffy-on-the-stick  but 
finally  decided  on  an  apple.  Munching  upon 
this,  he  sat  peering  into  the  night. 

Here  and  there  winged  little  spots  of  light 
glowed  for  a  moment  and  then  were  snuffed 
out  again.  They  made  Little  Black  Bear 
think  of  spangles.  They  were  about  that  size. 
He  thought  they  might  be  the  fireflies  of  which 
he  had  heard.  But,  aside  from  the  twinkle- 
dots,  all  was  gloom  broken  only  by  immense 
columns  that  were  even  blacker  than  the 
night  itself.  And  these  Little  Black  Bear 
knew  were  the  trunks  of  the  great  trees  that 
stood  near  his  own.  How  big  everything  was. 
How  cool  and  sweet  the  air.  How  he  wished 
all  the  other  animals  were  with  him.  What  a 
story  he  would  have  to  tell ! 

From  away  in  the  distance  came  a  faint 
"hoot,  hoot,  hoot."  Out  of  nearby  trees 
dropped  odd  little  sounds  as  though  something 
were  hopping  about  on  the  branches.  But  by 
now  he  had  disposed  of  his  apple  and  so, 
carefully  closing  the  paper  bag,  he  rose  to  his 
feet  and  returned  to  the  room  in  the  tree. 

163 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Gracious,"  he  said,  "why,  it  must  be  late 
as  anything.  I  was  never  up  this  long  before 
in  all  my  life.  What  a  lark  I  am  having — " 

"I  say,  hush  up,  whoever  you  may  be  down 
below,"  suddenly  broke  forth  a  voice  from 
somewhere  outside  and  over  his  head.  "First 
you  rouse  a  body  with  your  singing,  and  now 
you  insist  upon  talking  to  yourself." 

"Oh,  please  excuse  me,"  answered  Little 
Black  Bear,  feeling  very  much  ashamed,  "j 
really  didn't  mean  to  disturb  any  one." 

"Well,  it's  all  right  this  time,  only  kindly 
don't  do  it  again."  Then,  after  a  pause, 
"Will  you  be  with  us  long?" 

"Well— er— that  is— I  really   don't   know." 

"Family?"  inquired  the  voice. 

"Oh,  no!'  Little  Black  Bear  hastened  to 
reply,  "I  am  quite  alone.  But  who  are  you, 
if  I  may  ask?" 

"Hey,  there!"  came  an  entirely  new  voice, 
this  time  from  very  high  overhead,  "how  long 
are  you  two  going  to  keep  folks  awake  with 
that  chattering!" 

But  neither  Little  Black  Bear  nor  the  one 
to  whom  he  had  been  talking  answered  so 

164 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  IN  THE  FOREST 

much  as  a  word.  Instead,  silence  now  fell  as 
deep  as  the  night  that  surrounded  the  tree. 
Little  Black  Bear  hardly  dared  move  for  fear 
the  leaves  might  crackle  and  then,  after  a 
time — for  he  had  already  become  drowsy — he 
gradually  forgot  the  strange  voices  that  had 
come  from  above,  and  slipped  away  into 
Slumberland. 

Now  whether  it  was  this  sound  that  awak- 
ened him,  Little  Black  Bear  had  no  way  of 
knowing,  but,  however  that  may  have  been 
the  very  first  thing  that  came  to  him  when  he 
again  opened  his  eyes  was  the  rhythm  and 
ring  of  an  echoing  hammer.  He  knew  it  was 
a  hammer,  for  he  had  sometimes  seen  the  men 
of  the  circus  at  work  on  the  cages.  Indeed,  as 
he  lay  there  on  the  warm  bed  of  leaves,  he 
could  almost  see  the  nails  slowly  sink  into 
place. 

"Surely,  now,  some  one  must  be  building  a 
house  in  the  forest,"  he  said,  as  he  scrambled 
to  his  feet  and  went  to  the  door  of  the  tree. 
:'Yes,  and  it  must  be  somewhere  up  the  side 
of  that  slope." 

For,  now  that  day  had  come,  Little  Black 
165 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

Bear  could  see  that  the  tree  in  which  he  had 
spent  the  night  stood  at  the  foot  of  what 
looked  to  be  a  mountain — a  mountain  that 
was  covered  with  trees  quite  as  big  as  those 
that  grew  at  its  base.  So  closely  did  these 
stand  and  so  dense  were  their  boughs  that  it 
was  only  here  and  there  that  a  bit  of  the  sun 
found  its  way  through  the  leaves.  Because  of 
this,  Little  Black  Bear  was  reminded  of  the 
soft  gray  twilight-time  that  always  brought 
Diggeldy  Dan  to  the  menagerie  tent. 

There  were  birds  of  many  kinds  in  many, 
many  trees  twittering  and  teetering  as  if 
discussing  their  plans  for  the  day.  Their 
voices  caused  Little  Black  Bear  to  remember 
the  mysterious  ones  of  the  night.  But  he  soon 
dismissed  them  from  mind,  and  turning  his 
thoughts  to  peanuts  and  carrots,  sat  down  with 
the  lunch  bag  between  his  knees  and  devoured 
a  most  appetizing  breakfast.  Once  more  he  was 
about  to  eat  the  taffy-on-the-stick,  but  again 
decided  to  wait  until  later.  As  he  finished 
his  last  peanut,  the  pounding  of  the  hammer 
sounded  again  and  then,  a  moment  later,  came 
the  rising  and  falling  "gr-r-r-rrr"  of  a  saw. 

166 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  IN  THE  FOREST 

"I  have  just  got  to  find  out  what  all  that 
is  about,"  decided  Little  Black  Bear,  as  he 
folded  his  lunch  bag.  "Who  knows?  It  may 
prove  the  best  kind  of  an  adventure." 

And  so,  guided  by  the  song  of  the  saw,  he 
started  up  the  side  of  the  mountain.  As  he 
advanced  the  trees  grew  less  dense  and  this 
made  more  light.  Long,  dazzling  beams  that 
seemed  to  split  into  thousands  of  glistening 
splinters  came  from  the  foliaged  canopy  that 
spread  far  above.  Great  rocks  began  to 
appear.  The  grass  grew  more  green.  The 
hammering  was  very  near  now.  And  then, 
reaching  the  edge  of  what  proved  to  be  a 
broad  clearing,  Little  Black  Bear  came  in 
sight  of  a  scene  that  caused  him  to  halt  in 
amazement. 

Spread  out  before  him  was  a  sort  of  niche 
in  the  mountain  with  a  floor  as  wide  as  the 
menagerie  tent,  fully  as  smooth  and  almost  as 
long.  At  the  back  of  the  niche  and  framed  by 
jaggedy  rocks  were  two  wooden  doors  made  of 
small  trunks  of  trees  bound  tightly  together 
with  bolts  and  with  bars.  Both  these  doors 
were  closed  as  if  shutting  the  mouth  of  a  cave. 

167 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

But  it  was  what  occupied  the  center  of 
the  clearing  that  held  the  fascinated  attention 
of  Little  Black  Bear.  Here  was  a  wide- 
spreading  tree  and  under  its  shade  an  enor- 
mously long  work-bench  surrounded  by  whole 
drifts  of  curlycue  shavings.  The  bench  was 
fitted  with  a  vise  with  wide  wooden  jaws, 
while  its  face  was  covered  with  many  strange 
tools.  Just  in  front  of  the  bench  and  half 
in  the  sunlight  were  two  massive  sawhorses 
that  supported  an  oddly  shaped  frame.  And, 
bending  over  these,  a  cap  on  his  head  and  a 
carpenter's  apron  tied  round  his  waist  was  a 
shaggy  coated  bruin  of  marvelous  size. 

Now,  of  course,  Little  Black  Bear  took  in 
the  entire  scene  in  a  whole  lot  less  time  than 
it  has  taken  to  tell  of  it.  Indeed,  by  now  he 
had  softly  lifted  himself  to  the  top  of  a  rock 
that  he  might  obtain  a  still  better  view. 
Then,  just  as  he  had  done  so,  and  without 
the  least  sign  of  warning,  the  rock  rolled 
away  with  a  crash,  and  the  next  moment  he 
lay  sprawling  in  the  clearing  not  a  half-dozen 
steps  from  the  bear  in  the  cap  and  the  apron! 


168 


CHAPTER  XX 

IN    WHICH    LITTLE    BLACK    BEAR    MEETS    SHAGG, 
THE    CARPENTER 

NOW,  usually  the  very  first  thing  one 
does  after  taking  a  tumble  is  to 
scramble  up  again.  And  that  is  exactly 
what  Little  Black  Bear  was  of  a  mind  to 
do  when  the  rock  on  which  he  was  standing 
turned  over  and  he  suddenly  found  himself 
sprawling  almost  at  the  feet  of  the  great  bear 
who  was  at  work  in  the  clearing.  But  he 
did  not  recover  himself  before  the  one  with 
the  hammer  had  taken  full  account  of  his 
plight. 

"Tacks,  jackplanes  and  drawshaves,  and 
what  is  all  this!"  roared  that  ponderous  party, 
as  he  put  his  arms  akimbo  and  gazed  in 
astonishment  at  the  mass  of  curly  black  hair 
that  lay  there  before  him. 

"Why — why,    it's    just   me   come   to   call," 
169 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

sputtered  Little  Black  Bear,  as  he  winked  and 
blinked  from  his  place  on  the  ground. 

"That's  quite  plain  to  see,"  the  other  agreed, 
in  a  voice  that  resembled  nothing  so  much  as 
thunder.  "But  gluepots  and  gimlets,  what  is 
the  notion  of  prostrating  yourself  in  this 
humble  fashion.  For  I  assure  you  that  I  am 
neither  a  prince  nor  a  king  but  merely  a  hard- 
working carpenter." 

"Oh,  that — ,"  Little  Bear  repeated  as  he 
finally  got  to  his  feet,  'Oh,  that  wasn't  my 
notion,  sir;  it  was  just  the  rock's.  You  see  it 
kind  of  rolled  out  from  under  me."  And  he 
explained  the  happening  in  so  droll  a  manner 
that  the  big  bear  laughed  so  loud  and  so  long 
that  the  forest  fairly  echoed  in  answer. 

"There,  there,  forgive  me,"  he  finally  said, 
as  he  wiped  the  tears  from  his  eyes  with  the 
top  of  his  cap,  "but  you  surely  cut  a  most 
comical  figure.  And  now,  though  it  may  be 
none  of  my  affair,  let  me  ask  just  what  it  is 
that  has  brought  you." 

Thus  encouraged,  Little  Black  Bear  told  his 
story  as  to  just  who  he  was,  whence  he  had 
come,  and  what  it  was  that  he  sought. 

170 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  MEETS  SHAGG 

"Well,  well,  now  that  is  indeed  interesting," 
the  other  exclaimed.  "My  name's  Shagg — 
Shagg,  the  Carpenter — and  I'll  be  glad  to  help 
in  any  way  I  can."  With  that  he  extended 
a  paw,  the  two  shook  hands  and  then,  at 
Shagg's  suggestion,  they  sat  down  at  the  foot 
of  the  tree  that  stood  near  the  bench. 

"So  you  are  a  circus  bear.  My,  what  a  lot 
of  wonderful  places  you  must  get  to  see.  I've 
often  thought  it  would  be  splendid  to  leave  the 
forest  and  travel  into  the  world.  But  then 
there  is  Mrs.  Shagg.  And  there  are  the  things 
to  be  built." 

"Why,  I  should  think  this  would  be  the 
jolliest  kind  of  a  place,"  rejoined  Little  Black 
Bear.  "I  can't  imagine  anything  quite  as 
interesting  as  building  things.  Have  you  always 
been  a  carpenter?" 

"Ever  since  I  was  old  enough  to  handle  a 
saw  and  a  hammer,"  answered  Shagg.  'You 
see  carpentering,  and  especially  chair-making, 
has  been  the  family  trade  for  quite  a  long 
time;  in  fact,  ever  since  the  days  of  the  Three 
Bears." 

"The  three  bears,"  said  the  other.  "The 
171 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

three  bears — why,  you  surely  don't  mean  the 
very  Three  Bears!" 

"To  be  sure,"  answered  Shagg.  "What  is 
so  unusual  about  that?" 

"But  there's  been  books  and  stories  and 
everything  written  about  them!"  cried  Little 
Black  Bear  in  rapt  admiration,  "about  them 
and  Goldilocks,  you  know." 

"Goldilocks  —  hum  —  Goldilocks,"  mused 
Shagg.  "What  a  piece  of  good  fortune  came 
to  our  family  when  she  broke  those  beds  and 
chairs.  For — so  the  family  tradition  goes — it 
was  in  mending  them  that  Great  Big  Bear 
found  he  had  a  knack  for  handling  tools.  That 
very  same  summer  he  built  an  entirely  new  set 
of  chairs.  Then  he  got  to  making  things 
for  the  neighbors  and  now — why,  just  look 
here." 

And  going  to  the  doors  that  were  made 
from  small  trees,  Shagg  swung  them  apart  and 
so  disclosed  a  deep  cavern  that  extended  far 
into  the  side  of  the  mountain.  There,  inside, 
were  whole  dozens  of  beds  with  inviting  look- 
ing rocks  for  mattresses,  many  massive  chairs 
and  no  end  of  footstools  to  match. 

172 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  MEETS  SHAGG 

"My,  what  a  lot  of  them!"  marveled  Little 
Black  Bear.  "Do  you  sell  many?" 

"Well,  not  at  this  time  of  year,"  explained 
Shagg,  as  he  closed  and  bolted  the  doors. 
"Most  of  the  bear  families  are  too  busy 
vacationing  and  roaming  about  through  the 
forest  during  the  summer  to  have  much  use 
for  furniture.  But  as  autumn  wanes  and  they 
begin  to  think  of  the  long  winter  nights  when 
they  will  sit  at  home  sucking  their  paws  and 
drowsing  before  the  fire,  I'll  tell  you  the 
thought  of  possessing  a  big  roomy  chair  and 
a  footstool  is  a  highly  pleasing  one.  And, 
though  I  do  say  it,  no  one  makes  better 
furniture  than  Shagg,  the  Carpenter.  Why, 
with  anything  like  care,  and  provided  the 
owner  isn't  a  terribly  loud  snorer,  one  of  my 
chairs  will  last  all  of  two  winters.  But,  of 
course,  there  are  snorers  that  will  loosen  the 
joints  of  the  best  chair  that  ever  was  mafle." 

And  so  he  rambled  on,  telling  no  end  of 
interesting  things  until,  chancing  to  glance  up 
at  the  sun,  he  sprang  to  his  feet. 

"Screws  and  screw  drivers!"  he  exclaimed. 
"I  had  no  idea  it  was  so  late."  And  he 

173 


hurried  back  to  the  bench.  "You  see  I 
always  aim  to  build  at  least  one  chair  every 
morning.  Would  you  care  to  watch  me  work?" 

"Oh,  I'd  love  to,"  answered  Little  Black 
Bear. 

"Ever  use  a  saw?"  the  big  fellow  asked  as 
he  busied  himself  at  the  vise. 

"Goodness,  no.  I  shouldn't  know  how  to 
begin,"  answered  the  watcher,  as  he  climbed 
to  a  seat  on  the  far  end  of  the  bench. 

"Well,  just  remember  this,  then,"  instructed 
Shagg,  as  he  gave  the  visehandle  an  extra 
hard  twist,  "if  you  ever  do  use  one — or  any 
tool  for  that  matter — don't  hold  it  too  tightly. 
That's  nearly  always  the  trouble  with  begin- 
ners. They  just  grip  for  all  they're  worth  and 
try  to  do  all  of  the  aiming.  But  what  I  say 
is — let  a  saw  alone.  Give  it  something  like  a 
free  head  and  it  will  follow  the  line  most 
every  time." 

"Why,  it's  the  same  way  with  guiding  a 
bicycle,"  chimed  Little  Black  Bear.  "I  know 
when  I  first  began  to  ride  in  the  circus  I  used 
to  grip  the  handle  bars  like  everything, 
but—" 

174 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  MEETS  SHAGG 

And  so — having  become  fast  friends — Shagg 
and  Little  Black  Bear  visited  on  through  the 
hours,  their  voices  mingling  with  the  song  of 
the  saw,  the  ring  of  the  hammer,  and  all  the 
happy  sounds  that  came  to  the  clearing  from 
the  depths  of  the  forest  below. 

Little  by  little  the  morning  advanced.  Little 
by  little  the  shadows  crept  nearer  the  rocks 
and  the  trees.  Little  by  little  the  thing  on  the 
sawhorses  became  more  like  a  chair.  And 
then,  just  as  the  last  touch  was  added,  the 
soft  hum  of  noontide  was  broken  by  a  voice 
that  came  from  neither  here  nor  there  nor,  for 
that  matter,  from  any  particular  direction  at 
all. 

"Shagg — ee!  Shagg — ee!"  it  called  in  an 
odd,  muffled  note  that  seemed  very  near  and 
yet  far  away. 

"All  right,  mother!  Coming,  mother!" 
roared  Shagg  as  if  in  reply. 

"Hurry,  then,  before  the  dinner  gets  cold," 
again  called  the  voice,  and  this  time  Little 
Black  Bear  realized  that  it  came  right  up  from 
the  ground. 

"Indeed,  we  will,"  declared  the  big  fellow  as 
175 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

he  put  down  his  hammer  and  untied  his  apron. 
"Come,  now — " 

"Oh,  thank  you  very  much,"  protested 
Little  Black  Bear,  "but  really,  I  have  my 
lunch  right  here  in  my  paper  bag." 

"Nonsense!"  insisted  Shagg,  "why  mother 
wouldn't  hear  to  me  leaving  you  up  here. 
So  come  along  with  you."  And  leading  the 
way  to  the  far  edge  of  the  clearing,  Shagg 
uncovered  an  iron  ring,  raised  a  heavy  trap 
door,  and  the  two  descended  a  well-worn 
flight  of  winding  stone  steps  until  they  came 
to  a  great,  rugged  room  that  was  almost  as 
broad  as  the  clearing  above. 

It  required  but  a  glance  for  Little  Black 
Bear  to  see  that  the  place  in  which  he  so 
suddenly  found  himself  was  a  cave.  There 
to  the  right  was  what  had  once  been  its 
entrance  but  which  had  at  some  time  or 
other  been  turned  into  a  window — a  window 
that  was  framed  with  trailing  wild  roses  and 
through  which  he  could  see  the  trees  of  the 
forest  and  the  bright  green  of  the  grass  under- 
neath. On  that  side  of  the  cave  that  was 
across  from  the  stairway  rose  a  huge  fire- 

176 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  MEETS  SHAGG 

place  and  in  front  of  it — her  back  turned 
toward  them,  and  slowly  stirring  the  contents 
of  a  very  fat  and  very  round  pot  that  hung 
over  the  flames — bent  Mrs.  Shagg. 

"Mother,  this  is  Little  Black  Bear;  I  have 
brought  him  down  to  dine  with  us,"  said 
Shagg." 

"Why,  isn't  that  fine,  now,"  cried  she, 
coming  forward.  "Indeed,  young  sir,  you 
are  most  welcome.  You  will  find  the  spring 
over  in  the  corner,  should  you  care  to  wash. 
It  won't  take  me  a  minute  to  put  on  an  extra 
bowl  and  then  we'll  sit  right  down." 

As  she  bustled  about,  laying  another  place 
at  the  big  wooden  table  that  stood  in  the 
middle  of  the  cave,  Little  Black  Bear  thought 
he  had  never  met  any  one  with  such  a  white 
cap  and  apron.  He  just  positively  knew  there 
never  were  any  starched  quite  as  stiff  and  as 
straight  nor  adorned  with  such  beautiful 
bows.  Indeed,  he  had  hard  work  in  trying  to 
tell  whether  the  merry  crackling  sound  that 
now  and  then  filled  the  room  came  from  the 
apron  or  the  fire  on  the  hearth. 

"Hurry  along  with  the  both  of  you,  now," 
177 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

called  she,  as  Shagg  and  Little  Black  Bear 
returned  from  the  spring.  And  soon  they 
were  all  three  at  table.  Little  Black  Bear 
had  never  before  seen  such  lovely  dishes — 
beautiful  iron  ones  and  so  delightfully  black. 
Of  course  there  was  porridge — three  bountiful 
bowls  of  it — and  a  deep  dish  fairly  over- 
flowing with  honey.  As  they  ate  they  talked, 
the  guest  telling  many  stories  of  the  circus 
and  a  great  deal  about  Diggeldy  Dan,  the 
Pretty  Lady,  and  of  Spangleland. 

"Now,  goodness,  do  eat  your  dinner," 
Mrs.  Shagg  kept  saying.  "Shagg,  do  help 
Little  Black  Bear  to  some  more  of  the  por- 
ridge." 

Dinner  over  with,  Shagg  and  Little  Black 
Bear  drew  their  chairs  back  from  the  table  so 
that  Mrs.  Shagg  might  clear  the  dishes,  and 
this  gave  the  visitor  more  of  an  opportunity 
of  looking  about.  Along  the  sides  of  the  cave 
were  a  number  of  chairs,  all  with  very  high 
backs,  and,  between  these,  no  less  than  a 
dozen  quaint  chests  with  corners  of  brass  and  • 
handles  of  iron.  On  the  walls  of  the  cave 
were  many  big  frames  fashioned  from  bark 

178 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  MEETS  SHAGG 

and  each  displaying  subjects  of  a  most  inter- 
esting kind.  One  pictured  a  widewaisted 
hogshead  labeled  "Molasses";  while  another 
showed  a  huge  honeybee  drawn  many  times 
larger  than  bees  really  are  and  bearing  the 
title,  "The  Bears'  Very  Best  Friend."  In 
fact,  Little  Black  Bear  thought  all  of  the 
paintings  in  excellent  taste  and  quite  in  the 
style  that  one  might  expect  to  find  in  the 
dining  room  of  almost  any  bruin. 

At  the  back  of  the  cave  was  a  stout  wooden 
door  which  somehow  or  other  wore  a  myster- 
ious look.  Eyeing  it  closely,  Little  Black 
Bear  was  just  going  to  ask  as  to  where  the 
door  led,  when,  glancing  at  Shagg,  he  saw  that 
the  big  fellow  had  gone  sound  asleep.  Next 
he  discovered  that  Mrs.  Shagg  had  done 
exactly  the  same  thing  in  a  comfortable 
rocker  that  stood  near  the  fire. 

"Well,  well,"  said  Little  Black  Bear  to 
himself,  "if  that's  to  be  the  way  of  it,  I,  too, 
shall  indulge  in  a  nap." 

So,  twisting  about  until  he  had  got  himself 
into  a  quite  snoozy  position,  he  was  just  on 
the  point  of  closing  his  eyes,  when  there, 

179 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGLEDY  DAN 

among  the  wild  roses,  appeared  a  pink- 
f rocked  little  girl  with  long  yellow  curls. 
Even  as  he  watched,  she  placed  her  two  hands 
on  the  window,  and  then,  softly  raising  it, 
stepped  into  the  cave. 


180 


CHAPTER  XXI 

IN  WHICH  LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  ADDS  STILL  MORE 
TO  HIS  STORY 

IF  Little  Black  Bear  had  never  before  held 
his  breath,  he  most  positively  did  when, 
as  he  gazed  with  fascination  at  the  wee 
girl  with  the  tumbling  curls,  he  saw  her  raise 
the  window  and  place  her  two  slippered  feet 
on  the  flagged  floor  of  the  cave. 

The  first  thing  he  noticed  was  that  she 
carried  a  bonnet  by  its  long  ribbons  quite  as 
one  holds  the  handle  to  a  basket.  This  she 
first  placed  on  the  floor  and  then,  carefully 
closing  the  window  behind  her,  again  picked 
it  up  and  started  on  tiptoe  toward  Mrs. 
Shagg. 

Now,  as  you  no  doubt  remember,  Little 
Black  Bear  had  got  himself  into  a  snoozy 
position  just  as  the  strange  face  appeared  at 
the  window,  and  he  still  lay  huddled  deep 

181 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

down  in  the  depths  of  his  chair.  So,  as  the 
one  with  the  bonnet  softly  crossed  the  great 
cave,  the  back  of  the  chair  gradually  shut  her 
from  view.  But  Little  Black  Bear  had  by  this 
time  recovered  his  breath  and,  becoming  more 
bold,  put  his  head  out  from  under  one  arm  of 
the  chair  in  order  to  see  what  was  about  to 
take  place.  There  sat  Mrs.  Shagg — sound 
asleep  in  the  rocker  with  her  apron  spread  over 
her  knees.  Quietly  the  little  girl  approached 
her.  Not  a  sound  did  she  make.  Except  for 
the  steady  "tick-tock,  tick-tock"  of  the  clock 
that  stood  on  the  mantel  shelf,  there  was  no 
sound  of  any  kind  throughout  the  whole  cave. 
Now  the  yellow-haired  stranger  was  at  Mrs. 
Shagg's  very  side,  and  had  placed  one  of  her 
hands  under  the  crown  of  the  bonnet.  What 
in  the  world  was  she  going  to  do! 

Leaning  still  farther  out,  Little  Black  Bear 
craned  his  neck  to  see  just  what  was  about  to 
come  next.  Ah!  now  he  saw!  Their  visitor 
was  pouring  something  into  Mrs.  Shagg's  lap. 
But  what  was  it  she  brought?  Again  he  edged 
himself  still  farther  along.  And  then — 

Bang! 

182 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  ADDS  TO  STORY 

Both  the  chair  and  the  curious  one  struck 
the  floor  with  a  crash! 

At  the  sound  of  the  fall,  Mrs.  Shagg  sprang 
to  her  feet  with  the  towering  Shagg  following 
after;  while  at  the  very  same  moment  the 
floor  of  the  cave  was  simply  strewn  with 
berries  that  the  little  girl  had  poured  from 
her  bonnet  into  Mrs.  Shagg's  lap. 

"Plumb-bobs  and  sawdust,  now!  What's 
all  this  rumpus?"  stormed  the  carpenter, 
glaring  about.  "Oh,  it's  you,  is  it,  Tumble 
Curls;  did  you  come  down  the  chimney  and 
knock  over  the  porridge  pot?" 

"And  just  look  at  the  berries — all  over  the 
place!"  cried  Mrs.  Shagg. 

"And  here's  something  else  on  the  floor," 
added  her  husband,  as  his  eyes  fell  upon  a 
certain  sheepish-faced  party  who  was  just 
then  picking  himself  up  from  under  the 
overturned  chair. 

"Yes,"  admitted  Little  Black  Bear,  "it  was 
all  my  fault.  For  it  was  I  who  did  it — I  and 
the  chair."  And  he  recited  just  what  had 
happened.  "But  I'll  clean  up  every  last  one 
of  the  berries — honest  I  will." 

183 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Pshaw,  now,  you'll  do  nothing  of  the 
kind,  for  the  broom  will  clear  them  away 
in  three  whisks  and  a  whee,"  laughed  Mrs. 
Shagg. 

"Of  course,"  agreed  Tumble  Curls  "while 
I  can  easily  get  a  brimming  bonnetful 
more."  And  she  started  away  toward  the 
window. 

"Nonsense,"  protested  Shagg,  "you'll  do 
nothing  of  the  sort;  for  we  can  go  without 
dessert  for  once,  I  guess.  Stay  right  where 
you  are  and  meet  our  new  friend,  Little  Black 
Bear." 

"Pleased  to,"  said  Tumble  Curls,  dropping 
a  curtsy  and  putting  one  hand  to  her  dimpled 
chin.  And  when,  a  moment  later,  she  learned 
that  Little  Black  Bear  was  from  the  circus 
you  may  be  sure  she  forgot  all  about  the 
berries  that  had  by  now  been  brushed  into  a 
dustpan  by  Mrs.  Shagg. 

Indeed  nothing  would  do  but  that  Little 
Black  Bear  should  do  some  tricks  for  them. 

"Oh,  please,  please  do,"  begged  Tumble 
Curls,  "for  I've  never,  never  been  to  a  circus, 
though  my  grannylocks  has  told  me  about 

184 


Little  Black  Bear  gladly  did  his  tricks  over  and  over  again. 

Page  185. 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  ADDS  TO  STORY 

them  and,  once,  I  saw  a  wonderful  picture. 
It  showed  some  bears  walking  on  big,  colored 
globes.  Do  they  really  do  that?' 

"Why,  of  course,"  answered  Little  Black 
Bear.  "That's  easy  as  pie.  If  I  only  had— 

"I  have  the  very  thing,"  interrupted  Mrs. 
Shagg,  as  she  went  to  one  of  the  chests  that 
stood  near  the  wall. 

"Of  course!"  exclaimed  Shagg.  "The  ball 
I  made  you  to  use  when  darning  my  clothes." 

Out  it  came  and  soon,  to  the  amazement  of 
both  the  big  bruins  and  the  great  joy  of  Tum- 
ble Curls,  Little  Black  Bear  had  mounted  to 
the  top  of  it  and  traveled  the  full  length  of  the 
cave.  Then,  as  if  to  cap  the  climax,  he  turned 
himself  topsy-turvy,  tossed  his  heels  in  the  air, 
and — of  all  unheard-of  things — walked  back 
again  on  his  paws! 

"Well,  saws  and  sawhorses — I'd  never  have 
believed  it!"  marveled  Shagg. 

"Nor  I,  either!"  admired  Mrs.  Shagg.  As 
for  Tumble  Curls,  she  danced  and  clapped  her 
hands  with  so  much  delight  that  Little  Black 
Bear  gladly  did  his  tricks  over  and  over  again. 
Finally  he  turned  a  dozen  somersaults  all  in  a 

185 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

row,  to  say  nothing  of  leapfrogging  high  above 
four  stools  that  stood  near  the  window. 

Now,  had  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shagg  and  Tumble 
Curls  had  their  way  about  it,  Little  Black 
Bear  would  have  spent  the  entire  afternoon 
performing  for  them.  But  just  as  he  had 
sprung  over  the  last  of  the  stools,  the  clock  on 
the  mantel  suddenly  seemed  to  forget  to  tick 
and  to  tock.  Instead  it  gave  forth  a  warning 
"burr — r-r-r",  next  it  uttered  a  queer  "click" 
and  then  called  out  the  hour  in  so  positive  a 
tone  that  Little  Black  Bear  turned  about  with 
a  start. 

"What!  That  o'clock!"  cried  he.  "Oh, 
then  I  must  be  going  at  once,  else  I'll  never 
reach  the  menagerie  tent  by  half -past  twilight." 

Of  course  the  others  protested,  but  when 
they  understood  that  their  visitor  really  had  to 
leave  them,  they  immediately  offered  to  ac- 
company him  at  least  part  way  through  the 
forest. 

"It  won't  take  me  a  minute  to  get  ready," 
assured  Mrs.  Shagg,  as  she  went  to  the  door  at 
the  back  of  the  cave.  And  soon  she  came 
forth  with  a  beautiful  cashmere  shawl,  a 

186 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  ADDS  TO  STORY 

lovely  green  parasol,  and  a  bonnet  simply 
covered  with  shining  jet  beads.  While  she  was 
tying  the  bonnet  strings  under  her  chin, 
Shagg  had  opened  two  of  the  chests.  From  one 
he  took  a  glossy  silk  hat  that  was  almost  as 
tall  as  the  mantelpiece  clock;  and  from  the 
other  a  cane  with  a  gorgeous  gold  knob. 

"Family  heirlooms,"  said  he,  as  he  handed 
the  walking  stick  to  Little  Black  Bear  for  the 
latter's  inspection.  "Yes,  sir;  wonderful  cane 
it  is,  too.  The  very  one  that  belonged  to  Great 
Big  Bear.  Just  look  at  the  initials  engraved 
on  the  top  of  it." 

Sure  enough,  there  were  the  three  letters, 
"G.  B.  B." — a  bit  worn,  yet  still  quite  distinct. 

"And  the  hat?"  asked  Little  Black  Bear, 
as  they  climbed  the  stone  steps  and  came  to 
the  clearing,  "is  it — " 

"It  is,  indeed,"  answered  Shagg. 

"My  grannylocks  always  liked  to  tell  of  the 
time  when  she  took  it  and  brought  it  back 
filled  with  berries,"  put  in  Tumble  Curls, 
"Goodness,  how  Great  Big  Bear  did  scold!" 

"But  he  ate  the  berries  just  the  same," 
added  Mrs.  Shagg. 

187 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Then  your  granny  locks  once  lived  here  in 
the  forest  like  you?"  asked  Little  Black  Bear 
of  Tumble  Curls,  as  the  four  descended  the 
slope. 

"Of  course  she  did.  Surely  you  must  have 
heard  of  my  grannylocks — Goldilocks,  some 
called  her." 

"Goldilocks!"  repeated  Little  Black  Bear. 
"Goldilocks!  Well,  I  should  say  I  have! 
But,"  he  added  in  a  puzzled  sort  of  way, 
"I  always  supposed  that  she  and  the  Three 
Bears  weren't — weren't — " 

"Weren't  on  very  good  terms?"  finished 
Shagg.  "Yes,  we  all  know  that  story.  But, 
as  I  said  this  morning,  the  fact  that  Goldilocks 
broke  those  chairs  proved  the  very  best  thing 
that  could  have  happened  to  our  family.  So 
you  may  be  sure  it  wasn't  long  until  she  and 
the  Three  Bears  became  the  closest  of  friends." 

Thus  they  talked  as  they  walked  into  the 
deeper  depths  of  the  forest.  What  an  odd 
group  they  made!  First  came  Little  Black 
Bear,  his  eyes  and  his  ears  wide  with  attention 
and  his  lunch  bag  still  tucked  tightly  under  one 
arm.  At  his  side  skipped  Tumble  Curls, 

188 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  ADDS  TO  STORY 

swinging  her  bonnet  and  chattering  and  laugh- 
ing or  telling  no  end  of  wonderful  things  about 
her  own  home  that  lay  in  a  glade  high  up  the 
mountain  slope.  A  dozen  paces  behind  them 
came  the  two  Shaggs,  arm  linked  in  arm — he 
with  his  cane  and  very  grand  hat  and  she  with 
her  parasol  and  still  grander  shawl.  On  they 
went  until  they  had  got  well  past  the  great 
tree  in  which  Little  Black  Bear  had  slept 
through  the  night;  past  this  and  almost  within 
sight  of  the  fringe  of  the  forest.  And  then 
Shagg  cried  to  them  to  halt. 

"For  it  is  here  that  we  must  leave  you," 
he  explained.  "You  see,  we  bears  of  the 
forest  seldom  or  never  go  beyond  or  even  to 
the  edge  of  it." 

"It  has  been  fine  of  you  to  come  all  this 
way,"  Little  Black  Bear  said  gratefully,  "and 
I  can't  begin  to  thank  you  for  the  wonderful 
time  I've  had." 

"La!  La!"  returned  Mrs.  Shagg,  "all  we 
hope  is  that  you  will  visit  us  again  some  day." 

"You'll  always  find  a  welcome,"  rumbled 
Shagg,  as  he  gave  Little  Black  Bear  a  hearty 
thump  on  one  shoulder. 

189 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Oh,  do  come  back,"  said  Tumble  Curls 
wistfully.  "Promise  you  will." 

"I'll  try,"  answered  Little  Black  Bear,  as  he 
set  his  face  toward  the  forest's  edge.  And 
then,  amid  the  cries  of  farewell,  he  parted 
from  his  three  friends. 

He  had  gone  but  a  short  way  when  he  felt 
something  rather  sharp  and  rather  hard  press- 
ing against  the  crook  of  his  arm.  It  came 
from  the  inside  of  the  lunch  bag.  Then  he 
remembered.  It  was  the  taffy-on-the-stick. 
Quickly  he  turned  back.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shagg 
were  just  disappearing  behind  the  trunk  of  a 
tree.  But  not  so  with  Tumble  Curls;  she  was 
still  watching  after  him.  Little  Black  Bear 
now  retraced  his  steps,  fumbling  in  the  paper 
bag  as  he  went. 

"Here,"  he  said,  as  he  reached  Tumble 
Curls'  side.  "Here:  maybe  you'd  like  to  have 
it."  And  he  thrust  the  taffy-on-the-stick  into 
her  hands  and  then  ran  away  as  fast  as  ever 
he  could.  He  recalled  how  he  had  twice  been 
tempted  to  eat  the  sweetmeat  but  had  not; 
and  he  was  glad. 

Soon  he  reached  the  point  where  meadows 
190 


LITTLE  BLACK  BEAR  ADDS  TO  STORY 

came  to  meet  the  forest;  and  there,  quietly 
cropping  the  grass,  stood  the  White- White 
Horse. 

"Did  you  find  your  story?"  asked  a  voice, 
while,  as  if  to  accompany  the  words,  the 
Pretty  Lady  with  the  Blue-Blue  Eyes  danced, 
smilingly,  toward  him. 

"Oh,  Pretty  Lady,  it  was  a  wonderful 
story,"  cried  Little  Black  Bear.  "You  see— 

"Not  yet,"  answered  she,  "It's  not  to  be 
told  until  we  get  back  to  the  menagerie  tent. 
So  make  haste  to  scramble  to  the  top  of 
yonder  treestump,  while  I  bring  the  White- 
White  Horse  to  the  side  of  it." 

A  moment  later,  Little  Black  Bear  had 
climbed  to  his  place  and,  just  as  half-past 
twilight  was  about  to  begin,  the  three  travelers 
set  off  with  all  speed  to  rejoin  those  whom 
they  knew  were  awaiting  them. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

IN  WHICH  DAN  MEETS  BEADER,  OF  THE  JUMPING 
DRAGOONS 

JUST  at  the  moment  when  the  White- 
White  Horse  left  the  forest's  edge  to 
carry  the  Pretty  Lady  and  Little  Black 
Bear  back  to  Spangleland,  Diggeldy  Dan 
might  have  been  seen  flitting  in  and  out  be- 
tween the  big  and  little  tents  on  his  way  to 
the  one  which  contained  "the  monkeys,  and 
lions,  and  tigers  and  things."  Indeed,  the 
funny  old  clown  in  the  polka-dot  suit  skipped 
along  even  faster  than  usual;  for  he  knew  that 
this  was  the  evening  that  was  to  bring  forth 
a  wonderful  story. 

As  for  the  animals,  they  knew  this,  too. 
And  so,  no  sooner  had  Dan's  face  appeared 
through  the  rift  in  the  wall  at  the  far  end  of 
the  tent  than  there  arose  a  cry  that  threatened 
to  waken  all  the  people  of  the  circus — soundly 

192 


IN  WHICH  DAN  MEETS  BEADER 

though  they  slept.  But  they  slept  on,  while, 
as  Mrs.  Shagg  would  have  put  it,  Dan  and 
Monkey  released  the  impatient  ones  in  "three 
whisks  and  a  whee."  To  the  center  they 
trooped,  coming  from  this  cage  and  that,  or 
out  the  corrals — leaping  and  laughing  with 
glee.  And  just  as  Lion  had  brought  them  to 
order,  in  galloped  the  White- White  Horse, 
bearing  his  two  precious  passengers. 

"Home  again!"  cried  the  welcoming  crew. 

"Home  again!"  echoed  Little  Black  Bear; 
while  all  rose  to  their  feet  to  pay  homage  to 
the  one  with  the  dancing  blue  eyes.  Dan 
assisted  her  to  alight  while  Elephant's  trunk 
lifted  Little  Black  Bear  to  a  place  on  the 
ground. 

"Now,  then,"  said  Lion,  "I  know  I  speak 
the  wish  of  every  one  of  you  when  I  say  that 
all  are  most  eager  to  hear  of  Little  Bear's 
adventure  in  the  great,  wide  world.  So  if  you, 
Pretty  Lady,  will  accept  a  seat  to  my  right 
and  Little  Black  Bear  take  one  at  my  left, 
I'm  sure  we'll  prove  a  most  attentive  audience." 

"I'm    most    agreeable,"    the    Lady    replied. 

"And  I'm  just  bursting  to  talk,"  declared 
193 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

Little  Black  Bear,  "only  I  simply  can't  sit 
down  to  do  it;  I  just  have  to  stand  up." 

"Suit  yourself  as  to  that,"  laughed  Lion, 
"only  do  begin  and  don't  leave  one  thing 
untold." 

So  Little  Black  Bear,  with  no  end  of  gestures 
and  no  end  of  wigglings  of  his  wiggley  nose, 
told  the  entire  wondrous  story  from  beginning 
to  end.  Then,  when  he  had  finished,  there 
came  whole  dozens  of  questions,  all  of  which 
he  answered  as  best  he  knew  how. 

"That  was  an  adventure,"  Lion  said,  finally. 

"Such  an  adventure!"  the  others  exclaimed. 

"Let's  draw  straws  again!"  cried  Monkey, 
"to  see  who'll  be  the  next  to  go  after  a  story." 

"But  perhaps  the  Pretty  Lady — "  Lion 
began. 

"Oh,  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  carry  another 
passenger  away  with  me,"  answered  she,  "only 
I  think  it  would  be  more  fun  if  we  this  time 
made  the  selection  by  counting  out." 

"Counting  out?"  questioned  Lion. 

"To  be  sure,"  she  replied.  "First  you  must 
all  form  in  a  circle.  You,  Little  Black  Bear, 
will  stand  here  with  me,  for  of  course  you've 

194 


IN  WHICH  DAN  MEETS  HEADER 

already  had  your  adventure.  Now,"  she 
continued,  when  the  great  ring  had  been  made, 
"we  will  begin."  And  she  started  around  the 
circle,  repeating  the  words  which  you  shall 
hear  while  touching  an  animal  with  the  tip  of 
her  whip  with  each  word  that  spoke: 

"  Diggeldy,  Diggeldy,  Diggeldy  Dan, 
Stay  in  the  circle,  those  who  can; 
Whip  touch  nose,  or  trunk  or  snout — 
The  last  one  touched  is  counted  OUT." 

"Of  course  that  first  time  was  just  for 
practice.  But  now  we  will  start  in  earnest,  and 
the  one  who  is  touched  by  the  whip  when  I 
speak  the  word  'out'  must  at  once  step  aside. 
Thus  we  will  continue  until  but  one  remains 
and  that  one  will  be  the  next  to  go  galloping 
away  on  the  White- White  Horse." 

So  the  counting  began.  Out  went  Zebra  and 
out  went  Seal  and  so  on  from  one  to  another 
until  at  last  there  remained  only  Tiger  and 
Dan. 

"And  now,  that  I  may  have  no  way  of 
knowing  which  of  you  I  shall  touch  when  I 
speak  the  first  word  of  the  rhyme,  I  will  ask 

195 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

Lion  to  place  his  paws  tightly  over  my  eyes," 
the  Pretty  Lady  requested. 

"Now,"  warned  she,  when  her  eyes  had  been 
covered,  "are  they  ready,  Lion?" 

"They  are." 

Down  dipped  the  whip,  and  the  Lady  began 
touching  first  one  and  then  the  other,  while 
all  those  who  were  out  joined  in  the  lines  of 
the  rhyme.  And  then,  when  it  had  brought 
them  to  the  very  last  word,  all  fairly  shouted 
a  tremendous  "OUT!" 

At  the  same  moment  Lion  dropped  his  paws 
from  the  Pretty  Lady's  eyes  and  there  was 
the  tip  of  her  whip  resting  on  Tiger's  left  ear! 

"Dan!"  cried  she,  while  all  the  animals 
began  chanting: 

"  Oh,  Dan,  Dan,  Diggeldy  Dan, 
Go  find  us  a  story  as  fast  as  you  can! " 


cc 


:  Indeed  he  will,"  promised  the  Pretty 
Lady,  "for  I  know  exactly  where  to  take  him. 
Only  he  may  have  to  be  absent  over  one 
twilight." 

"We'll  not  mind,"  said  Lion. 
"No,  not  one  bit,"  cried  the  rest. 
196 


IN  WHICH  DAN  MEETS  BEADER 

"Especially  if  he  brings  back  an  extra  fine 
story,"  added  Camel. 

"Let  us  start  at  once,  then,"  the  Pretty  Lady 
commanded,  "for  we  have  a  long  way  to  go." 

Off  dashed  the  animals  and  were  soon  back 
in  their  homes.  Dan  locked  the  last  door  and 
then,  twirling  about  on  one  foot  and  waving  a 
farewell  in  every  direction,  he  danced  down  the 
tent  and  jumped  to  the  back  of  the  White- 
White  Horse.  The  Pretty  Lady  had  already 
sprung  to  her  seat.  Dan  once  beside  her,  she 
touched  the  snowwhite  steed  and  the  journey 
into  twilight-land  was  begun. 

Onward  and  still  onward  they  galloped. 
Soon  darkness  had  come  but  the  White- White 
Horse  gave  no  sign  of  a  halt.  Now  he  went 
skimming  up  the  side  of  a  hill  and  then  down 
the  face  of  another.  But  at  last,  as  the 
travelers  reached  the  brow  of  an  unusually 
steep  slope,  they  came  in  sight  of  the  big, 
yellow  moon  just  as  it  was  on  the  point  of 
rousing  itself  from  the  top  of  a  more  distant 
hill.  And  it  was  here  the  White- White  Horse 
stopped  so  suddenly  that  Dan  was  all  but 
tossed  from  his  seat. 

197 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

Catching  his  balance,  the  clown  gazed  over 
the  Pretty  Lady's  shoulder.  Before  and 
beneath  them,  and  to  the  right  and  the  left  of 
them,  stretched  a  bit  of  a  valley  that  seemed 
fast  asleep.  Some  of  its  sides  were  covered 
with  corn  fields  while  others  were  checkered 
with  patches  of  wheat.  These  crept  down- 
ward to  the  very  edge  of  a  dark  clump  of 
raggedy  trees  that  grew  on  the  floor  of  the 
valley.  In  the  midst  of  the  trees — but  stand- 
ing much  higher  than  the  tallest  of  them — was 
a  queerly  shaped  tower.  Now  it  seemed  to 
be  thrusting  its  head  into  the  moon's  great, 
round  face.  It  resembled  nothing  so  much 
as  a  huge  grandfather's  clock.  But  what 
could  a  clock  be  doing  in  such  a  strange 
place? 

Even  as  Dan  pondered,  the  Pretty  Lady 
motioned  him  to  alight. 

:*You  are  to  go  into  the  valley,"  she  whis- 
pered, her  face  placed  close  to  his  very  white 
ear.  "Two  things  you  are  to  remember:  Be 
ever  so  careful  as  to  just  where  you  step; 
and,  if  you  are  asked  why  you  have  come, 
always  answer  'Dickory  Dock." 

198 


IN  WHICH  DAN  MEETS  BEADER 

Dan  would  have  liked  more  instructions  but, 
just  as  he  opened  his  lips  to  question  the 
Lady,  the  White-White  Horse  whirled  about 
in  his  tracks  and  was  gone  in  the  direction 
whence  they  had  come. 

"Well,  well,"  said  Dan  to  himself,  "I  guess 
there  is  but  one  thing  to  do  and  that  is  to  go 
into  the  valley  and  see  what  I'll  find  there." 
So  he  started  off  down  the  slope.  Soon  he 
entered  a  corn  patch.  As  he  neared  the 
middle  of  it  he  was  joined  by  a  breeze  that 
rustled  the  long  leaves  until  they  fairly  sang  at 
its  touch.  It  was  a  soft,  murmuring  tune, 
with  a  gay  little  quirk,  and  so  filled  with  hap- 
piness that  Dan  soon  found  himself  singing  a 
song  of  his  own.  How  long  he  might  have  sung 
there  is  no  way  of  knowing,  for  he  was  still  in 
the  midst  of  the  melody,  when  he  felt  a  sharp 
tugging  at  the  great  ruffled  collar  that  circled 
his  neck.  Thinking  the  collar  had  caught  upon 
something,  he  turned  to  see  what  it  was.  And 
there  holding  to  a  cornstalk  while  he  jerked  at 
the  edge  of  the  ruff,  was  a  most  indignant  mouse ! 

"So!  I've  finally  brought  you  to  a  halt," 
squeaked  the  stranger.  "Didn't  you  hear  me 

199 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

shouting  at  you  when  you  entered  the  corn 
field?  You  clumsy  fellow — you  almost  stepped 
on  my  sentry  box!" 

Dan  thought  he  had  never  before  seen  quite 
such  a  mouse.  Not  that  his  face  was  unlike 
that  of  other  mice,  but  because  of  the  dress 
that  he  wore.  This  consisted  of  a  jaunty  cap 
with  a  plume  in  it,  a  red  coat  adorned  with 
two  rows  of  tiny  brass  buttons,  and  trousers 
that  were  braided  with  gold  stripes  down  the 
sides.  Around  his  waist  ran  a  belt  and  from 
this  hung  a  sword. 

"Now  who  are  you  and  what  do  you  want," 
demanded  the  mouse. 

"Why,  I'm  Diggeldy  Dan,  and  I—" 

"That  means  nothing  to  me,"  interrupted 
the  other,  "so  I  shall  have  to  ask  you  to  leave 
here  at  once." 

"But — "  protested  the  clown. 

"But,  nothing,"  returned  the  mouse.  "Be- 
gone, I  say,  or  I  shall  summon  the  guard 
without  more  ado." 

Then  Dan  suddenly  remembered  what  the 
Pretty  Lady  had  told  him. 

"Oh!"  he  hastened  to  say,  "I  almost 
200 


IN  WHICH  DAN  MEETS  BEADER 

forgot."  And  bending  over,  he  whispered, 
"Dickory  Dock." 

"Well,  now,  that's  different,"  cried  the 
mouse  in  the  friendliest  tone,  imaginable. 
"But  why  in  the  world  didn't  you  say  that  in 
the  first  place?" 

"I'll  confess  I  just  didn't  think,"  answered 
Dan.  "The  Pretty  Lady  told  me  to  repeat 
the  words  to  whomever  I  met;  but  you  see — 
well,  I  guess  I  hardly  expected  to — to— 

"To  be  challenged  by  a  mere  little  mouse," 
supplied  the  guard,  as  he  sent  forth  a  tiny  but 
none  the  less  merry  laugh. 

"And  I  was  also  told  to  watch  where  I 
stepped,"  added  Dan.  "I  hope  I  didn't  harm 
the  sentry  box  of  which  you  spoke." 

"Not  a  speck.  But  tell  me  what  you  are 
and  what  we  may  have  the  honor  of  doing 
for  you?" 

So  Dan  did. 

"Hum,"  mused  the  mouse,  "I'm  sure  I 
don't  know  whether  we  can  supply  any  sort 
of  a  story,  but  I  assure  you  we  will  be  most 
happy  to  serve  you  and  the  animals  of  Spangle- 
land  in  any  way  possible.  As  for  myself,  I 

201 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

will  be  delighted  to  escort  you,  for  I  think  I 
hear  the  relief  guard  coming  this  way  now. 
Hi!  down  there,"  he  called,  as  if  speaking  to 
some  one  at  the  foot  of  the  cornstalks,  "that 
you,  Skipper?  All  right — thought  I  knew 
your  step.  A  quiet  watch  to  you.  I'm  off 
to  accompany  a  friend  down  the  valley." 

Then,  turning  to  Dan,  he  added,  'You 
walk  right  along  and  I'll  just  hop  from  stalk 
to  stalk  until  we  get  out  of  the  corn  patch." 

"I'll  go  slowly,"  Dan  assured  him. 

"Oh,  as  to  that,  you  may  run  if  you  wish. 
You  see  we  of  the  Jumping  Dragoons  pride 
ourselves  on  our  ability  to  go  long  distances  in 
a  very  little  time." 

Nevertheless  they  proceeded  leisurely,  chat- 
ting as  they  descended.  Beader — for  such 
proved  to  be  the  name  of  Dan's  escort — 
explained  many  things  as  they  went  and  was 
just  on  the  point  of  answering  Dan's  question 
about  the  thing  that  looked  so  much  like  a 
grandfather's  clock  when  they  reached  the 
floor  of  the  valley. 

"Here,"  said  the  mouse,  "we  enter  the 
town  proper.  And,"  he  added,  making  a  very 

202 


IN  WHICH  DAN  MEETS  BEADER 

low  bow,  "Beader  takes  pride  in  being  the 
first  to  welcome  you  to  the  Valley  of  Tick 
Tock." 

"What  an  odd  name!"  exclaimed  Dan. 
"Why  do  you  call  it  that?" 

"Listen  a  moment  and  you  will  hear," 
replied  Beader. 

So  Dan  hearkened.  And  out  of  the  silence 
there  came  a  slow  and  very  measured  and 
very  musical  sound.  It  was  as  if  an  ocean 
were  not  far  away  or  a  brook  had  come  to 
make  its  home  near  the  trees.  But,  unlike 
the  boom  of  the  surf  or  the  song  of  a  stream, 
this  strange  voice  sang  a  much  different  tune. 
Indeed,  as  Dan  listened,  he  could  plainly  hear 
it  say—  "Tick-tock,  tick-tock,  tick-tock!" 

"Now,"  Beader  broke  in,  "if  you  will  be 
careful  as  to  where  you  step  and  follow  me 
closely,  we  will  soon  be  in  the  main  part  of 
the  town." 

Thus,  he  of  the  Jumping  Dragoons  leaping 
in  advance — his  red  coat  a  bright  splotch  in 
the  moonlight — Dan  followed  him,  wonder- 
ingly. 


203 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

IN  WHICH  DAN  SPENDS  A  NIGHT  IN  THE  VALLEY 
OF  TICK  TOCK 

S  Dan,  guided  by  Beader,  entered  the 
town  that  lay  in  the  center  of  the 
Valley  of  Tick  Tock,  he  saw  that  it 
had  been  built  so  that  the  trees  stood  at  the 
foot  of  it  while  the  corn  patches  and  the  wheat 
fields  stretched  on  both  sides  and  one  end. 
From  the  fields  and  the  woods  streets  ran 
hither  and  thither  at  all  sorts  of  angles.  These 
were  lined  with  no  end  of  queer  houses.  Some 
were  of  sticks,  and  some  were  of  weeds  and 
still  others  were  made  of  very  fine  grass.  Now 
and  then  appeared  a  dwelling  more  imposing 
than  the  rest.  There  was  one  that  must 
have  been  quite  three  stories  high.  All  the 
houses  faced  on  extremely  scant  roadways  that 
could  not  have  been  more  than  two-mouses 
wide. 

204 


DAN  SPENDS  A  NIGHT  IN  THE  VALLEY 

But  the  street  over  which  Beader  took  Dan 
was  of  a  far  different  kind.  Indeed,  it  was 
almost  as  broad  as  a  path  in  a  park.  It  was 
well  sprinkled  with  sand  and  along  both  its 
sides  were  rows  of  tall  corn.  Dan  was  about  to 
ask  if  the  street  had  a  name  when  he  noted  a 
sign  fixed  to  the  top  of  a  stick.  Stooping 
down  he  read: 

CORNSTALK  AVENUE 

50  Dragoon  Jumps  to  Public  Square 

And  so,  very  shortly,  he  and  his  guide  had 
reached  the  heart  of  the  town.  Here,  looking 
down,  the  visitor  saw  that  they  had  stopped 
before  what  he  judged  was  the  armory.  In 
front  of  it  stood  a  sentry  box  made  from  the 
half  of  a  corncob  with  windows  cut  in  the 
sides.  Out  of  this  stepped  a  mouse  dressed 
exactly  like  Beader,  only  in  place  of  a  sword  he 
carried  a  lantern. 

"Dickory  Dock,"  said  Dan's  guide. 

"Dickory  Dock,"  said  the  other.  Then  the 
two  of  them  came  to  salute  after  which  Beader 
unbuckled  his  belt  and  handed  it  and  the 
sword  to  the  one  with  the  lantern. 

205 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Now,  then,"  cried  he,  "I'm  off  duty  till 
to-morrow!  So,  if  you  don't  mind,  I'll  come 
up  there  to  your  shoulder  and  conduct  you 
wherever  you  may  care  to  go." 

"Do  so,  by  all  means,"  answered  Diggeldy 
Dan;  and  soon  the  other  was  perched  on  the 
folds  of  his  ruff. 

"Of  course,"  began  Beader,  as  he  unbuttoned 
the  top  of  his  rather  tight-fitting  coat,  "you 
must  understand  that  this  particular  town  is 
only  one  of  several  here  in  the  valley.  There 
is  Stubbleton  where  the  Fielders  live  and 
that's  over  in  that  direction.  And  there  is 
Nightsville,  where  most  of  the  Muskers  make 
their  home.  It's  back  yonder  at  the  edge  of 
the  pond.  Then  there's  Dorton — that's  the 
Dormice  settlement  and  it  lies  well  in  among 
the  trees.  But  it  is  here  that  we  hold  most  of 
our  gatherings.  I  do  wish  you  had  been  with 
us  last  evening.  There  was  a  most  exciting 
drill  between  the  Jumping  Dragoons  and  the 
Nightsville  Musketeers.  We  beat  them  all 
hollow  at  marching  but  we  couldn't  put  up 
our  tents  quite  as  fast  as  they." 

"It  must  have  been  great  sport,"  said  Dan, 
206 


DAN  SPENDS  A  NIGHT  IN  THE  VALLEY 

"I  wish  there  was  something  for  us  to  see 
tonight." 

"Goodness,  I  wish  so  too,"  answered  Beader. 
"If  it  were  only  Clock  Night.  But  it  isn't  for 
this  is  but  the  Day  Defore." 

"The  day  before,"  repeated  Dan,  "the  day 
before  what?" 

"The  Day  Before  Clock  Night.  You  see 
we  of  the  Valley  of  Tick  Tock  have  only  two 
kinds  of  days.  There  is  the  Day  Before  Clock 
Night  and  Clock  Night  Day;  then  it  becomes 
the  Day  Before  Clock  Night  again;  and  so 
on — over  and  over  and  over  again." 

"But  why  do  you  give  them  such  curious 
names?" 

"Why  because— but  listen!  What  is  that?" 
and  Beader  stood  up  and  put  his  head  to  one 
side.  "Why,  of  course!"  he  exclaimed.  "It's 
the  voices  of  the  Fielders.  They  must  be  out 
harvesting.  If  you've  never  been  to  a  moon- 
light harvest-bee  I  know  you'll  enjoy  it.  So 
come,  let's  get  over  to  the  wheat  field  as  fast 
as  we  can." 

Off  they  went,  taking  another  path  which 
led  in  a  direction  opposite  from  that  by  which 

207 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

they  had  entered  the  town.  Soon  they  were 
at  the  edge  of  the  field.  As  they  neared  it 
Dan's  guide  had  leaped  to  the  ground  and 
gone  on  in  advance. 

"Beader,  of  the  Dragoons,"  the  clown  heard 
him  shout,  "and  I'm  bringing  a  friend  with 
me." 

"Come  along,  then,"  cried  voices  in  answer. 

"Now,"  said  Beader  to  Dan,  "if  you  don't 
mind  getting  down  on  your  knees,  you'll  be 
able  to  see  fairly  well." 

Dan  did  still  more;  he  stretched  out  quite 
flat  and,  with  his  chin  propped  in  his  hands, 
peered  in  among  the  stalks  of  sweet-smelling 
wheat.  Of  course  there  was  the  moon  to  help 
out  but,  as  any  one  knows  who  has  peeped 
into  a  field  even  on  the  brightest  of  nights, 
there  is  little  save  darkness  in  the  depths 
underneath.  So  what  was  the  visitor's  surprise 
to  see  there  quite  clearly  whole  dozens  of 
workers  as  busy  as  bees. 

Yes,  there  they  all  were,  around  a  mite  of  a 
bonfire  that  was  scarcely  larger  than  five 
candle  flames.  Yet,  small  as  it  was,  it  sent  out 
its  flickerings  in  every  direction  and  so  lighted 

208 


DAN  SPENDS  A  NIGHT  IN  THE  VALLEY 

the  wheat  stalks  for  a  full  yard  away.  Still 
other  Fielders  rushed  about  through  the  forest, 
carrying  lanterns  and  tiny  leaf  baskets.  Up 
the  stalks  they  would  go,  fill  their  baskets 
with  wheat,  scurry  back  to  the  ground,  take 
their  loads  to  the  fireside,  and  then  hurry 
away  to  do  it  all  over  again. 

"The  Fielders  are  the  very  best  of  all  the 
harvesters,"  said  Beader,  who  had  by  now 
taken  a  seat  just  under  the  end  of  Dan's 
long,  funny  nose.  "They  have  a  system  for 
everything  they  do.  Those  that  you  see  sitting 
near  the  fire  are  the  sack  makers.  They  gather 
leaves  and  fashion  them  into  the  bags  that  hold 
all  the  wheat.  Those  who  are  filling  the  bags 
are  called  the  sackers.  They  are  mostly  the 
younger  Fielders,  as  are  those  who  bring 
straws  to  keep  up  the  fire.  The  most  impor- 
tant workers  are  the  gleaners.  They  must  be 
good  climbers  and  able  to  judge  the  very  best 
wheat.  Hey,  there,  Friend  Nibbler,"  Beader 
suddenly  cried  to  a  rather  large  mouse  who 
seemed  to  be  directing  the  work,  "can  you 
spare  a  moment?" 

"Never  too  busy  to  pass  the  time  of  night," 
209 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

answered  the  one  called  Nibbler,  as  he  came 
toward  them. 

"This  is  Diggeldy  Dan,"  introduced  Beader. 
"It's  his  first  time  at  a  harvest  bee.  Nibbler 
is  in  charge  of  the  harvesting." 

"Glad  to  see  you,"  nodded  the  Fielder. 

"It's  all  very  interesting,"  returned  Dan, 
"though  from  what  I've  seen  it  mustn't  be 
very  difficult  to  keep  things  going." 

"Everything  does  move  pretty  smoothly  so 
far  as  the  older  Fielders  go,"  agreed  Nibbler, 
"but  I  have  a  number  of  youngsters  among 
the  sackers  and  some  of  them  can't  count  as 
well  as  they  might.  You  see  the  bags  are 
made  to  hold  exactly  fifty  grains  apiece  and  if 
more  goes  in — especially  if  they  are  unusu- 
ally fat  grains — two  or  three  too  many  may 
mean  the  splitting  of  a  bag.  And  then  some 
of  the  other  lads  will  stop  to  play  when  they 
are  out  gathering  straws  and  so  let  the  fire 
get  low.  See!  It  needs  more  fuel  this  very 
minute!  So  if  you'll  excuse  me  I'll  go  see 
to  it." 

And  away  he  went  in  search  of  the  boys 
who,  as  Dan  plainly  saw,  were  at  that  moment 

210 


DAN  SPENDS  A  NIGHT  IN  THE  VALLEY 

in  the  midst  of  a  game  of  hide-and-go-seek  just 
beyond  the  edge  of  the  light. 

"After  the  grains  have  been  sacked,"  Beader 
continued  to  explain,  "the  bags  are  put  away 
in  storehouses  for  winter  use.  Our  people  of 
the  town — that  is  to  say,  the  Housemice — 
trade  cheese  and  cakes  for  wheat.  We  also 
harvest  quite  a  bit  of  corn." 

"Are  those  all  the  things  you  have  to  eat?" 
asked  Dan. 

"Oh,  dear,  no,"  answered  the  other.  "There 
are  nuts,  and  the  Muskers,  for  instance, 
simply  dote  on  apples.  We  always  have  an 
apple-rolling  when  apples  are  ripe.  That's  the 
best  fun  of  all.  Sometimes  we  get  an  apple 
well  up  the  side  of  a  slope  and  then  somebody 
starts  laughing  and  it  slips  away  and  goes 
scooting  back  again." 

"Does  any  one  ever  bother  you  here  in  the 
Valley  of  Tick  Tock?"  Dan  asked. 

"No,  indeed.  To  begin  with  I  guess  no  one 
but  the  Pretty  Lady  with  the  Blue-Blue  Eyes 
and  the  White- White  Horse  would  know  how 
to  find  us.  And,"  Beader  added,  drawing 
himself  up  to  his  full  height,  "even  if  they  did 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

there  are  the  Jumping  Dragoons  and  the 
Nights ville  Musketeers.  Some  of  us  are  always 
on  guard." 

"Of  course,  of  course,"  agreed  Dan,  very 
seriously,  and  very  solemnly.  "But  tell  me, 
how  is  it  you  call  yourselves  dragoons  and  yet 
have  no  horses?" 

"Oh,  but  we  have.  You  see,  I'm  a  dragoon 
only  on  every  Day  Before  Clock  Night.  On 
Clock  Night  Day  I'm  a  horse.  That's  the 
way  we  do  in  almost  everything.  We  take 
turns.  I  wasn't  riding  my  mouse-horse  to- 
night because  we  do  that  only  when  we 
drill." 

"I  see,"  said  Dan,  "but  about  the  different 
clock  days.  You  were  to  tell  me — " 

"Oh,  look!  Look!"  broke  in  Beader. 
"There,  coming  down  that  biggest  stalk.  It's 
Bounder,  isn't  it?  Why,  of  course  it's  Boun- 
der! Who  but  he  could  do  such  a  thing. 
See!  He's  bringing  down  a  whole  head  at  one 
time  and  I'll  warrant  there  isn't  a  lean  grain 
in  all  of  it.  I  must  speak  to  him." 

Off  he  sprang  and  in  two  jumps  had  reached 
the  side  of  the  one  called  Bounder.  Up  went 


DAN  SPENDS  A  NIGHT  IN  THE  VALLEY 

one  end  of  the  head  to  his  shoulder  and  then, 
amid  the  cheers  of  the  others,  the  red-coated 
dragoon  and  the  good-natured  Bounder  carried 
the  prize  to  the  feet  of  the  sackers.  Of  course 
there  was  visiting  and  more  or  less  handshak- 
ing that  might  have  kept  up  even  longer  than 
it  did  had  not  Nibbler  come  up  just  then  and 
ordered  everybody  back  to  their  various  tasks. 

"Fine  folks,  those  Fielders,  fine  folks," 
vowed  Beader,  as  he  joined  Dan  a  half- 
minute  after.  "I  do  hope  you'll  have  time  to 
get  over  to  Stubbleton  to-morrow.  They'd 
not  be  able  to  do  enough  for  you." 

"Wha — what  did  you  say,"  asked  Dan, 
suddenly  lifting  his  head.  "Please,  do  forgive 
me — I  really  believe  I  was  nodding!" 

"And  no  wonder!"  cried  Beader.  "We've 
already  visited  well  into  the  morning.  But 
what  a  night  it  is!  And  what  a  moon!  I  say, 
it's  really  too  nice  to  sleep  indoors  even  if  we 
had  a  roof  that  would  cover  you.  So  what  do 
you  say  if  we  both  make  our  beds  in  the  corn 
patch  that  lies  just  across  from  this  field?" 

"Nothing  would  suit  me  better,"  declared 
Dan.  So  he  and  Beader  set  out  for  the  patch. 

213 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Here's  just  the  place  for  me,"  said  the 
mouse  as  he  curled  himself  up  at  the  foot  of  a 
stalk. 

"While  this  space  to  the  left  must  have  been 
just  measured  for  me,"  echoed  Dan. 

"So,  then,  good  night,"  answered  Beader. 
"And  mind  you,  just  sleep  as  long  as  you 
like  for  I  assure  you  you'll  not  be  disturbed." 

But,  though  Dan  had  nodded  while  watching 
the  Fielders,  the  walk  to  the  corn  patch  had 
roused  him  again.  As  he  lay  there  looking  out 
through  the  leaves  into  the  face  of  the  moon 
he  was  reminded  of  the  time  when  he  had  gone 
to  sleep  with  his  head  on  Gray  Ears'  great 
trunk.  The  night  was  quite  as  still  as  the  one 
he  had  passed  in  the  depths  of  the  woods.  Yet, 
just  as  there  had  then  been  the  song  of  the 
cricket  so  now  was  there  a  sound  to  accompany 
his  thoughts.  He  had  all  but  forgotten  it 
while  attending  the  harvest  bee.  But  now  he 
heard  it  more  distinctly  than  ever.  Whether 
it  came  from  the  south  or  the  north,  or  came 
from  the  west  or  the  east  he  could  not  be  sure. 
Perhaps  it  was  wafted  on  breezes  that  swung 
over  the  hills.  But,  from  no  matter  whence, 

214 


DAN  SPENDS  A  NIGHT  IN  THE  VALLEY 

the  sound  floated  toward  him:  "Tick-tock, 
tick-tock,  tick-tock." 

"Oh,  Beader,"  he  called,  determined  to 
find  out  just  what  it  was  that  gave  forth  the 
strange  note.  "Oh,  Beader." 

But  Beader  was  fast,  fast  asleep.  So  Dan 
said  no  more.  And  soon  he,  too,  had  followed 
the  example  of  the  little  dragoon,  while  all 
through  the  valley  went  the  voice  that  seemed 
never  to  sleep,  saying  "Tick-tock,  tick-tock, 
tick-tock — " 


215 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

IN  WHICH  DAN  IS  PRESENTED  WITH  THE  KEY 
TO  THE  VALLEY 


H 


AVING  tarried  in  Slumberland  until 
well  into  the  morning,  Dan  finally 
made  known  his  intention  of  quitting 
it  by  rolling  his  head  to  one  side,  wrinkling  the 
end  of  his  long,  funny  nose,  and  puckering  his 
forehead  in  the  very  same  spot  where  his  brow 
was  adorned  with  a  red  polka  dot.  Still,  he  did 
not  at  once  rouse  himself.  In  fact,  so  to  put 
it,  he  really  awakened  a  bit  at  a  time.  And  it 
was  while  he  was  not  yet  more  than  half,  or,  at 
the  very  most,  only  two-thirds  awake,  that  he 
felt  something  tickling  the  tops  of  his  knees. 
This  caused  him  to  wiggle  the  ends  of  his  toes 
and  to  pucker  his  brow  even  more  than  before. 
But  the  tickling  persisted  and  so,  at  last  fully 
awakened,  he  opened  his  eyes  and  sat  straight 
up  between  the  tall  stalks  of  corn. 

216 


DAN  GETS  THE  KEY  TO  THE  VALLEY 

"A  good  morning,  Sir  Clown,"  cried  a 
welcoming  voice. 

At  the  sound  of  it,  Dan  looked  to  the  right 
and  looked  to  the  left.  But  naught  could  he 
see  save  the  green  of  the  corn  and  the  splashes 
of  sunlight  that  patterned  the  ground. 

"Here  we  are — out  here!"  again  called  the 
voice.  And  looking  down,  Dan  saw  a  most 
remarkable  sight.  There,  drawn  up  in  two 
lines  along  the  ridge  of  his  legs  and  extending 
well  over  his  knees,  were  two  entire  companies 
of  the  Jumping  Dragoons.  He  knew  them  at 
once,  for  all  wore  coats,  caps  and  trousers  that 
were  exact  copies  of  Beader's;  while,  square  at 
the  head  of  them,  astride  a  mouse  in  silver- 
trimmed  trappings,  was  none  other  than  that 
worthy,  himself. 

"My,  my;  we  thought  you  never  would 
waken!"  exclaimed  Dan's  guide  of  the  night, 
"but  now  that  you  have,  allow  me  to  present 
my  comrades  of  the  Micetown  Dragoons." 
At  the  precise  moment  that  Beader  pro- 
nounced the  "goons"  in  dragoons,  he  drew  his 
sword  from  its  scabbard  and  held  it  fixed  at 
salute  while,  with  a  rattle  and  swish  and  a 

217 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

flourishing  flip,  all  the  rest  of  the  mice  followed 
suit. 

"My  respects  to  you  to  all  and  a  good  wish 
for  each  one,"  returned  Dan,  as  he  bowed  as 
best  he  could  sitting  down,  "I  assure  you  I 
am  honored  by  this  courtly  attention." 

"Now  then,  fall  out!"  Beader  commanded, 
"and  make  haste  to  bring  forward  our  guest's 
breakfast  rations."  OS  Dan's  legs  they  all 
tumbled;  down  past  his  feet  they  all  went, 
and  were  soon  coming  back  carrying  whole 
dozens  of  morsels  of  cream  cheese  and  cake. 
These  they  piled  high  in  Dan's  willing  lap  and, 
a  half-minute  after,  the  clown  was  eating  his 
fill  while  the  red-coated  dragoons  perched  upon 
his  knees,  feet  and  shoulders — visiting  and 
chattering  for  quite  all  they  were  worth. 

"I  suppose  you  are  surprised  to  see  me  in 
uniform  after  what  I  told  you  last  night," 
Beader  said.  "But,  since  it  was  I  who  first 
guided  you,  all  the  dragoons  insisted  that  I 
should  lead  them  to  the  corn  patch  this  morn- 
ing. Besides,  Plunger  didn't  mind  being  a 
horse  for  to-day.  Did  you,  Plunger?"  he  ap- 
pealed to  the  mouse  upon  whose  back  he  sat. 

218 


DAN  GETS  THE  KEY  TO  THE  VALLEY 

"Ne — he — he,"  answered  Plunger,  shaking 
his  head  and  pawing  Dan's  ruff  with  one  foot. 

"He  means,  'No,  not  a  bit,'"  Beader  ex- 
plained. 'You  see  it  is  one  of  our  rules  that 
when  a  dragoon  is  a  horse  he  is  not  to  utter  a 
word.  He  may  only  whinny,  or  say  'no'  or 
'yes'  with  his  head." 

So,  as  they  talked,  Dan  finished  his  break- 
fast. 

"That  over  with,  we  will  prepare  to  move 
to  the  square,"  announced  Beader.  "Dragoons 
fall  in!" 

At  this  word  from  their  leader,  the  others 
all  sprang  to  the  furrow  and  were  soon  once 
more  at  attention. 

"Forwar — r — r — d,  ha!"  came  from  Beader. 
Onward  they  marched  until  the  rear  of  their 
lines  had  passed  well  beyond  the  clown's 
feet. 

"Halt!"  ordered  Beader.  "Now  then,  you, 
Diggeldy  Dan,  will  march  just  behind  the  tails 
that  come  last.  You,  bandmice,  will  take  up 
your  position  just  behind  Dan." 

With  this  last  command  a  group  of  beady- 
eyed  fellows  swung  into  view  from  an  adjoining 

219 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

furrow.  They  wore  jackets  of  green  that 
contrasted  in  most  lively  fashion  with  their 
pink  pantaloons  and  still  pinker  hats.  As 
for  instruments,  there  were  what  one  might 
have  called  fifes,  which  were  made  by  placing 
blades  of  green  grass  between  two  whittled 
sticks;  and  fully  two  dozen  drums  fashioned 
from  corncobs  with  the  ends  covered  over 
with  well-seasoned  husks.  On  the  head  of 
the  largest  drum,  Dan  read  the  words: 

Fielders'  Fife  and  Drum  Corps 

The  players  were  led  by  an  unusually  tall 
mouse  who  seemed  all  the  taller  because  of  the 
great  plush  hat  that  he  wore.  This  was  held 
in  place  by  a  strap  that  passed  under  his  chin. 
He  carried  a  glistening  stick,  with  a  knob  at 
one  end,  which  he  spun  high  overhead  as  he 
marched.  Dan  knew  him  at  once;  it  was 
Bounder,  who  had  garnered  the  whole  head 
of  wheat. 

Thus  brought  into  formation  by  Beader — 
their  mile-high  guest  towering  above  them — 
the  mice  slowly  emerged  from  the  corn  patch. 

220 


DAN  GETS  THE  KEY  TO  THE  VALLEY 

Soon  they  had  reached  one  of  the  broad, 
sanded  paths  that  led  into  the  town.  Already 
the  merry  notes  of  the  fifes  and  the  rattle  of 
drums  heralded  the  procession's  approach. 
Small  wonder,  then,  that  windows  were  jam- 
med with  vast  numbers  of  spectators  and  the 
sides  of  the  avenue  simply  gray  with  the 
crowd.  Many  of  the  younger  mice  had 
climbed  up  the  corn  stalks  that  bordered  the 
street,  while  others  trailed  in  the  rear  of  the 
drummers  or  kept  pace  with  Bounder  as  he 
twirled  his  baton. 

Header,  astride  Plunger,  was  everywhere  at 
once,  so  it  seemed:  First  at  the  head  of  the 
column  and  then  at  the  back  of  it;  now  along 
one  flank  and  now  down  the  other — giving  this 
order  or  that  in  a  manner  that  called  forth 
much  admiration.  At  each  of  the  corners  were 
important  mice  in  blue  coats  who  waved  back 
the  throngs  as  the  marchers  drew  near  and 
touched  their  helmets  as  Dan  passed  their 
stations. 

Such  were  the  scenes  that  greeted  Dan's 
eyes  as  the  procession  moved  onward  to  finally 
arrive  at  the  square.  Big  as  it  was,  the  plaza 

221 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

looked  to  be  completely  carpeted  with  mice. 
These  were  of  every  color  and  size  and  all 
smartly  attired  in  holiday  dress.  On  a  central 
platform  was  another  mouse  band.  Its  players 
blew  lustily  on  pipes  and  on  horns  that  were 
made  from  parts  of  wheat  stalks.  Just  in 
front  of  the  bandstand — but  on  a  different 
and  still  higher  platform — stood  a  table  and, 
behind  the  table,  four  chairs  in  a  row.  As  for 
decorations — there  seemed  to  be  no  end  of 
them.  Bandstand  and  platform  were  draped 
with  bunting,  and  flags  and  gay  pennants 
fluttered  forth  on  all  sides. 

Now,  at  the  point  where  Dan  had  come  to  a 
halt  was  a  wide-spreading  tree  whose  under- 
most branches  just  tipped  the  top  of  his  sugar- 
loaf  hat.  This  tree  shaded  the  greater  part 
of  the  square.  Looking  up  from  the  scene  that 
lay  at  his  feet,  the  clown  noticed  a  string 
dangling  quite  near  his  nose.  Following  the 
length  of  it  with  a  curious  eye,  he  saw  that  it 
passed  through  a  miniature  pulley  that  was 
fixed  to  a  branch  of  the  tree.  One  half  of  the 
string  ran  down  at  a  slant  to  be  lost  at  a 
point  where  the  Jumping  Dragoons  had  been 

222 


DAN  GETS  THE  KEY  TO  THE  VALLEY 

drawn  up  at  attention.  The  other  part  of  the 
string  hung  almost  straight  down  until  it 
reached  the  table  that  stood  on  the  platform. 
And  now  Dan  saw  that  a  flag  had  been  placed 
over  the  top  of  the  table  and  that  the  end  of 
the  string  passed  under  the  folds  of  it.  Even 
as  he  looked  there  came  a  stir  in  the  crowd  and 
another  in  the  branches  that  spread  near  his 
head.  Glancing  up,  he  saw  Beader  spring 
to  his  shoulder  and,  again  looking  down, 
beheld  four  exceedingly  dignified  mice  ascend- 
ing the  steps  that  led  to  the  platform.  All 
wore  glossy  silk  hats,  which  were  removed  as 
they  reached  the  top  of  the  steps  and  then 
carefully  placed  under  the  four  separate  chairs 
that  stood  in  a  row  near  the  table.  Then  they 
sat  down  and  began  mopping  their  brows  with 
handkerchiefs  which  they  drew  from  their 
pockets. 

"They  are  our  mayors,"  Beader  imparted, 
as  the  band  struck  up  an  entirely  new  air,  "of 
Dorton,  of  Nightsville,  of  Stubbleton,  and 
here." 

The  band  again  silent,  the  most  portly 
mouse  advanced  to  the  flag-covered  table. 

223 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

"Mayor  Mouser,  of  Micetown,"  whispered 
Beader. 

"Friends  and  fellow  mice,"  began  the  speak- 
er, "we  are  gathered  here  today  to  welcome  to 
our  midst  one  who  has  traveled  from  afar. 
We  have—" 

And  standing  there  with  his  head  against 
the  branches — Beader  whispering  explanations 
of  all  that  was  not  clear  to  him — Dan  listened 
to  this  welcoming  speech. 

"And  now,  in  conclusion,"  said  the  mayor, 
"I  have,  in  the  name  of  all  our  villages,  the 
honor  of  presenting  Diggeldy  Dan,  with  the 
key  to  the  Valley  of  Tick  Tock."  As  he  said 
this  he  lifted  one  hand  in  signal  toward  the 
companies  of  Jumping  Dragoons.  Instantly 
Dan  saw  that  the  red-coated  ones  had  taken 
hold  of  that  end  of  the  string  which  lay  nearest 
them.  Now  they  ran  outward  quite  as  if  they 
were  playing  at  tug-of-war.  At  the  same 
moment  the  string  tightened  in  the  pulley,  and 
then — up  from  the  table  came  the  flag.  As  it 
unfurled  to  the  breeze,  Dan  saw  that  its 
emblem  was  a  sheaf  of  bright  yellow  wheat. 
Under  the  flag  hung  a  bit  of  free  string  and, 

224 


DAN  GETS  THE  KEY  TO  THE  VALLEY 

fast  to  the  end  of  it — spinning  and  glittering 
as  it  came — was  a  golden  key  scarcely  longer 
than  Dan's  little  finger!  In  a  second  the  key 
had  been  drawn  up  on  a  level  with  his  face 
and,  prompted  by  Beader,  the  clown  untied  it 
amid  wave  upon  wave  of  heartiest  cheers  and 
the  gayest  of  gala-day  music. 

While  the  huzzas  were  in  progress  any  who 
were  not  looking  at  Dan  might  have  noted 
that  the  four  on  the  platform  were  in  close 
consultation.  A  moment  later  Mayor  Mouser 
again  waved  for  attention. 

"I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  have  still  another 
announcement  to  make,"  said  he,  when  silence 
had  fallen.  "Of  course  the  greater  part  of  our 
guest's  day  and  evening  will  be  taken  up  with 
the  tour  of  the  valley.  But  this,  as  we  all 
know,  being  Clock  Day  Night,  I  ask  that  all 
of  you  who  can  possibly  do  so,  be  in  the 
square  at\  midnight.  For  it  has  been  unani- 
mously decided  that  Diggeldy  Dan  is  to 
accompany  us  to  Hear  the  Clock  Strike  One!" 

Cheer  after  cheer  greeted  this  news.  Again 
Dan  was  reminded  of  the  queer  tower  that  he 
had  seen  among  the  trees  when  he  first  entered 

225 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

the  valley.  Again  he  recalled  the  strange 
sound  that  had  lulled  him  to  sleep.  He 
wondered  if  these  things  were  to  play  a  part 
in  the  promised  adventure.  But  there  was  no 
time  to  ask.  Already  Beader  had  descended  to 
the  ground  and  was  bringing  the  dragoons  to 
attention;  already  a  new  procession  was  being 
formed  to  escort  Dan  on  his  tour  through  the 
Valley  of  Tick  Tock. 

Now  Bounder  had  begun  to  twirl  his  stick 
skyward  and  the  fifes  to  make  merry  and  the 
drums  to  beat.  So,  still  wondering — the  golden 
key  clasped  tightly  in  one  hand — Dan  marched 
from  the  plaza,  bowing  first  one  way  and  then 
the  other  to  the  crowd  or  waving  his  pointed 
hat  toward  wee  mice-in-arms  that  were  held 
upward  to  claim  his  attention. 


226 


CHAPTER  XXV 

IN   WHICH    DAN    HEARS    THE    CLOCK   STRIKE    ONE 

NOW  should  you  ever,  like  Dan,  some 
day  visit  the  Valley  of  Tick  Tock, 
and,  reaching  the  plaza  that  lies  in  the 
very  center  of  Micetown,  take  eleven  steps 
to  the  east  and  then  ten  to  the  south,  you 
would,  like  as  not,  come  upon  a  vine-covered 
mound  something  of  the  width,  the  shape 
and  the  height  of  a  haycock.  And  were  you 
to  thrust  the  vines  to  one  side,  you  would 
find  that  they  covered  the  face  of  two  wooden 
doors,  so  fashioned  and  hinged  as  to  part  in 
the  middle.  But  did  you  seek  to  open  them 
to  learn  what  might  be  concealed  under- 
neath, you  would  discover  that  something 
forbade  you  to  do  so.  And  after  you  had 
tugged,  and  then  tugged  again,  and  probably 
said  "Oh,  dear,"  at  your  failure,  you  would 
seek  out  the  reason  and  find  it  to  be  a  stout 
and  wholly  unyielding  lock. 

227 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

But  this  is  something  with  which  you  will 
doubtless  never  contend.  Not  that  you  will 
never  visit  the  valley,  but  because,  if  you  do, 
you  will  most  likely  be  accompanied  as  was 
Diggeldy  Dan.  For,  at  the  end  of  the  day  and 
the  first  hours  of  the  night  spent  in  journeys 
to  Stubbleton,  Dorton  and  Nightsville,  the 
clown  found  himself  marching  toward  this  very 
same  knoll  that  has  been  described  as  resem- 
bling a  haycock. 

What  a  marvelous  multitude  attended  him! 
Of  course  there  were  the  dragoons,  and  there 
were  the  bands,  and  there  were  the  mayors, — 
all  four  of  them.  The  latter  now  rode  in 
splendid  corncob  carriages,  drawn  by  mice  in 
harness  and  plumes  and  driven  by  others  with 
cockades  on  their  hats.  At  the  rear  and  both 
sides  walked  mice  in  such  numbers,  and  so 
packed  together,  that  as  Dan  looked  down  on 
them  it  seemed  as  though  the  very  ground  was 
in  motion.  And  when,  now  and  then,  the  vast 
procession  came  to  a  pause — as  processions  are 
likely  to  do — there  was  not  the  slightest  bit  of 
confusion.  This  was  because  every  mouse 
instantly  stepped  on  the  tail  of  that  mouse 


DAN  HEARS  THE  CLOCK  STRIKE  ONE 

who  walked  just  in  front  of  him  and  so  held 
him  quite  fast  just  as  he,  in  turn,  was  held  in 
his  tracks  by  the  one  who  came  to  a  halt 
right  behind  him. 

Nearly  all  had  brought  lamps.  These  were 
not  carried  but  were  fastened  to  the  caps  that 
all  of  them  wore.  This  gave  the  throng  a  most 
picturesque  look.  It  made  Dan  think  of  a 
torchlight  procession  and,  again,  of  the  lights 
that  jewel  a  town  when  one  views  it  from  some 
distant  hillside.  Just  why  the  mice  had  been 
provided  with  lamps  Dan  could  not  guess;  for 
the  moon  now  floated  high  in  the  skies  and 
flooded  every  inch  of  the  way.  But  he  was 
soon  to  find  out,  for  it  was  not  long  before  the 
mayors  drew  up  in  the  lee  of  the  knoll  that 
looked  so  much  like  a  haycock.  Up  the  vines 
went  the  dragoons  and,  pulling  this  way  and 
that,  quickly  bared  the  two  doors  to  full 
view.  Next  Mayor  Mouser  and  his  companions 
alighted.  Looking  back,  Dan  saw  that  all  the 
attending  throng  were  standing  upon  each 
other's  tails  as  though  awaiting  some  mo- 
mentous event. 

"Advance  to  the  portals,  Diggeldy  Dan!" 
229 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

cried  Mayor  Mouser,  as  he  waved  toward  the 
tightly  locked  doors.  With  two  strides  the 
clown  stood  before  them. 

"You  have  the  key?" 

"Right  here  in  my  hand,"  Dan  made  haste 
to  reply,  as  he  held  the  object  on  high  that  all 
might  observe  it. 

"Then,  be  it  known  to  you  that  that  which 
you  hold  is  the  key  to  the  underground 
passage — the  passage  that  leads  to  the 
Clock 

"Are  we  all  ready?"  called  Mayor  Mouser, 
as  he  leaped  to  the  seat  of  his  carriage  the 
better  to  look  back  across  the  vast  sea  of  faces 
that  stretched  for  yard  after  yard  down  the 


avenue. 

M 


Yes,  yes!"  answered  a  thousand  and  one 
voices  as  their  owners  danced  with  impatience 
upon  a  thousand  and  one  tails. 

"Then,  Dan — open  the  doors!" 

At  this  command  the  clown  dropped  to  both 
knees.  Quickly  he  thrust  the  key  in  the  lock 
and  turned  it  as  swiftly  with  a  twist  to  the 
right.  As  he  did  so  the  dragoons  swung  the 
two  doors  apart.  And  there,  before  him, 

230 


DAN  HEARS  THE  CLOCK  STRIKE  ONE 

and  leading  into  the  knoll,   was  a  tunnel  as 
black  as  the  darkest  of  nights. 

Into  this  curious  passage  leaped  the  van  of 
the  column,  waving  bright  torches  high  over- 
head. The  bands  followed  after  and  next  came 
the  mayors — all  four  of  them — marching  abreast. 

Now  Dan  had  sunk  down  on  his  knees  when 
he  unlocked  the  doors  and  so  was  quite  in  a 
position  to  enter  the  passage — not  walking 
upright,  as  you  may  well  suppose,  but  moving 
along  on  "all  fours." 

Down,  down  and  still  downward  they  all 
traveled.  Around  and  around  they  all  wound 
their  way.  Now  and  then  the  passage  opened 
into  galleries  of  considerable  size.  Still  other 
tunnels  branched  into  these  and  from  out  of 
them  trooped  yet  other  mice  to  join  in  the 
endless  procession. 

"They  are  those  who  have  entered  the 
tunnels  that  join  this  larger  one  as  it  winds 
under  Dorton,  Stubbleton  and  Nights ville," 
Beader  explained.  "But  we  have  passed  the 
last  galleries  and  will  soon  be  in  the  Great 
Room.  You  may  even  now  be  able  to  see  the 
lights  up  ahead." 

231 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

And  Dan  could.  There,  far  beyond  and 
above  the  heads  of  the  mice  that  marched  in 
front  of  him,  was  a  faint  yellow  glow.  This 
grew  brighter  and  wider  as  they  advanced. 
Then,  two  minutes  after,  the  column  entered 
the  room  that  Beader  had  promised. 

The  Great  Room  was  quite  big  enough  to 
allow  Dan  to  stand  upright.  Its  walls  formed 
an  oblong  and  along  these  walls  were  an 
almost  countless  number  of  balconies  to  the 
railings  of  which  scores  of  torches  were  fixed. 
Dozens  upon  dozens  of  tiny  stairways  ran  from 
the  balconies  while  still  other  flights  connected 
the  higher  ones  with  those  that  were  under 
them.  The  room  had  no  furnishings.  Its 
floor  was  of  stone  and  worn  almost  to  a  polish 
as  though  it  had  been  visited  time  after  time 
by  thousands  after  thousands  of  feet. 

Having  observed  this  much,  Dan  looked 
overhead.  It  was  then  he  discovered  that  the 
room  had  no  ceiling.  At  first  he  thought  he 
was  peering  into  the  skies,  so  deep  was  the 
gloom  up  above.  But,  try  as  he  would,  no 
stars  could  he  see  nor  yet  so  much  as  a  glint 
of  the  moon.  Indeed,  there  was  nothing  but 

232 


DAN  HEARS  THE  CLOCK  STRIKE  ONE 

the  rather  dim  outline  of  a  most  confusing 
something  that  swung  first  to  right  and  then  to 
the  left  like  the  pendulum  that  sways  in  a  clock. 

"Like  the  pendulum  that  sways  in  a  clock," 
puzzled  Dan,  as  he  put  his  thoughts  into 
words.  "Why  is  it  a  pendulum!" 

Even  as  he  spoke  his  ears  detected  the 
steady  "tick-tock,  tick-tock"  that  he  had 
heard  when  he  first  entered  the  valley.  And 
the  sound  came  from  a  point  right  over  his 
head!  Now  he  knew;  now  his  eyes,  grown 
accustomed  to  the  gloom,  told  him  he  was 
right.  He  was  looking  up  into  the  great 
tower — the  tower  that  he  had  seen  with  its 
head  thrust  through  the  trees.  And,  as  if  to 
favor  the  watcher,  the  moon  at  that  moment 
sent  some  of  its  beams  through  a  chink  at  the 
top,  plainly  disclosing  whole  mazes  of  wheels 
and  two  hands  of  tremendous  size.  The  hour 
lacked  but  five  minutes  of  one! 

:'Yes,"  said  Beader,  who  had  by  this  time 
mounted  to  Dan's  ruff,  "the  Great  Room  is 
directly  under  the  Clock.  And  now  if  you 
will  stand  right  where  you  are  you  will  see  and 
hear  all  that  takes  place.  That's  my  balcony 

233 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

up  yonder  and  I  must  be  getting  over  to  it  at 
once." 

Away  he  scampered  and  as  he  did  so  Dan 
saw  that  all  the  mice  were  mounting  the  stair- 
ways and  climbing  to  the  balconies  that 
bordered  the  room.  In  the  largest  of  these,  at 
the  center  of  the  topmost  tier,  a  choir  was 
being  formed.  One  who  seemed  to  be  the 
leader  gave  the  pitch  now  and  then  by  blowing 
upon  a  stalk  of  wheat.  Then,  at  a  signal,  the 
chorus  began: 

"Dickory,  dickory  dock; 
Dickory,  dickory  dock." 

These  same  words  were  chanted  over  and 
over  and  over  again,  but  with  many  changes 
of  melody.  As  the  chorus  rang  through  the 
Great  Room,  Dan  saw  that  those  in  the 
balconies  were  standing  on  very  tiptoes,  as  if 
eager  to  be  off  to  he  knew  not  where.  Sud- 
denly more  words  were  added  to  the  song: 

"The  mice  ran  up  the  clock,"  sang  the 
voices.  Instantly  the  air  seemed  filled  with 
flying  mice.  From  every  balcony  they  sprang 
— mayors,  dragoons,  band-mice,  and  all — leap- 

234 


At  the  boom  of  "  One  "  the  mice  fairly  rained  into  the 
Great  Room.     Page  235, 


DAN  HEARS  THE  CLOCK  STRIKE  ONE 

ing  upon  the  great  pendulum  that  swung  across 
the  width  of  the  room,  ^nd,  reaching  it,  up 
the  great  shaft  they  went — upward  into  the 
very  tower  of  the  Clock.  There  were  those 
who  missed  when  they  jumped.  But  these 
picked  themselves  up  in  a  twinkling,  dashed 
back  to  the  balconies  and  once  more  leaped 
for  the  pendulum.  Now,  all  others  gone,  the 
singers  followed  their  fellows  until,  at  last, 
only  Dan  remained  in  the  Great  Room. 

"Dickory,  dickory  dock, 
The  mice  ran  up  the  clock," 

came  the  far-away  voices  of  the  chorus. 

:'Tick-tock,  tick-tock,"  sang  the  Clock  in 
reply. 

Then  it  gave  forth  a  great  "bur-r-r-rr"  that 
shook  the  tower  to  its  very  base. 

'The  clock  struck  one,"  chorused  the  choir. 

"Boom!"  went  the  Clock. 

"The  mice  ran  down—  '  began  the  singers. 
But  whether  the  verse  was  completed  Dan 
could  not  tell.  For,  at  the  boom  of  "One" 
the  mice  fairly  rained  into  the  Great  Room. 
Down  they  came,  laughing,  tumbling,  racing 

235 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

and  scrambling  pell-mell — all  bound  for  the 
tunnel  that  led  to  the  knoll.  Into  the  passage 
they  went,  some  riding  on  the  backs  of  their 
comrades  or  smaller  ones  clinging  fast  to  the 
tails  of  those  who  were  larger  and  swifter  than 
they.  Last  of  all  came  the  mayors  holding 
tight  to  their  hats.  With  such  speed  did  all 
travel  that  the  echo  of  "One"  had  hardly 
completed  its  rounds  of  the  tower  when  the 
Great  Room  was  empty.  Yet  not  quite  empty 
for,  as  Dan  turned  to  follow,  there  came  a 
patter  of  feet  near  his  own.  It  was  Beader 
who  had  returned  to  escort  him  back  through 
the  passage. 

"Wasn't  it  fun!"  cried  the  red-coated  dra- 
goon as  the  two  of  them  entered  the  tunnel. 

"Fun!"  answered  Dan,  "why  it's  more  than 
that — it's  a  story!  What  a  tale  I  shall  have  to 
tell  when  I  get  back  to  the  menagerie  tent! 
But,  now  that  I  have  my  story,  I  suppose  I 
should  be  returning  to  the  corn  patch  where 
we  first  met,  for  it  may  be  that  the  Pretty 
Lady  will  be  waiting  to  carry  me  back  to 
Spangleland." 

"Then  we  will  take  this  passage  to  the  left," 
236 


DAN  HEARS  THE  CLOCK  STRIKE  ONE 

said  Beader.  "It  will  bring  us  out  but  a  few 
steps  from  there."  So  the  two  pressed  forward 
with  no  light  to  guide  them  save  the  wee 
lamp  that  the  dragoon  wore  in  his  cap.  Sud- 
denly Beader  stopped. 

"I  heard  it,  too,"  chimed  Dan.  "It  was  a 
neigh!  The  White-White  Horse  must  be  near 
the  mouth  of  the  passage.  Come,  let  us 
hurry." 

Soon  they  were  standing  in  the  moonlight 
and  there,  sure  enough,  was  the  one  with  the 
Blue-Blue  Eyes. 

"I  knew  you  were  coming,"  she  said.  "I 
could  hear  your  voices  under  the  ground.  But 
now  you  must  bid  Beader  farewell,  else  we 
will  never  reach  the  circus  by  dawn." 

"A  good-by  and  no  end  of  thanks  to  you, 
Friend  Beader,"  exclaimed  Dan. 

"A  good-by  to  you,  Diggeldy  Dan,"  the 
dragoon  cried  warmly,  as  the  clown  sprang  to 
his  seat.  "And  do  come  and  visit  us  again 
some  day." 

: '  Indeed,  I  shall  try,"  called  Dan  in  return 
as  the  White- White  Horse  started  off  down 
the  slope.  And  looking  back  he  could  see  that 

237 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

Beader  had  mounted  to  the  top  of  a  cornstalk. 
There  he  stood,  waving  his  plumed  cap  over 
his  head,  his  red  coat  a  bright  spot  in  the 
moonlight. 

Soon  the  hoofs  of  the  White- White  Horse 
began  to  play  a  soft  tattoo  on  the  turf  and  the 
Pretty  Lady's  laugh  to  ring  merrily  in  tune 
with  it.  But  these  sounds  could  not  shut  out 
another  that  Dan  fancied  still  filled  the  air.  It 
seemed  to  come  from  the  fast  receding  valley, 
growing  fainter  and  fainter  and  fainter,  yet  still 
saying,  "Tick-tock,  tick-tock,  tick-tock." 

So  we  will  leave  Dan  here — leave  him  as  he 
is  being  carried  back  to  the  great  menagerie 
tent  where  (you  may  be  very  sure)  he  told 
every  wee  bit  of  the  tinest  part  of  his  adven- 
ture to  the  animals  who  awaited  his  coming. 
"And,  after  that?"  you  no  doubt  are  asking, 
"did  he  return  to  see  Beader?  Or  ever  again 
go  adventuring  with  Gray  Ears,  the  Elephant? 
And  the  Pretty  Lady  with  the  Blue-Blue 
Eyes;  did  she  carry  more  of  the  animals  into 
the  wide  wide  world  on  the  White- White 
Horse?  And  did  Dan— " 

238 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

WE    SAY   GOODBYE    TO    DIGGELDY   DAN 

STOP!    Stop!    Thumbbobs  and   tack  ham- 
mers, what  a  collection  of  questions! 
"But  how  is  one  to  know  when  there 
are  no  more  pages  that  tell?"  you  persist. 

How,  indeed!  And  yet  there  is  a  way.  For 
one  may  always  summon  those  two  marvelous 
playfellows,  Guess  and  Suppose,  and  with 
them  seek  out  even  Diggeldy  Dan.  And, 
having  caught  up  with  him,  you'll  find  the 
blue-eyed  one,  too;  and  (like  as  not)  Lion,  and 
Monkey,  and  Tiger,  and  Seal,  and  the  rest  of 
the  whole  merry  crew.  For  none  of  them  is 
ever  a  great  ways  away, — at  least  no  farther 
than  the  circus  is  near. 

"But,"  you  enquire,  after  considering  this 
plan  for  a  minute  or  more,  "will  they  talk  to 
me  when  once  I  do  find  them?" 

Perhaps.     And  yet  you  must  not  be  sad  if 


ADVENTURES  OF  DIGGELDY  DAN 

they  will  not.  Instead,  you  should  recall 
what  Gray  Ears  once  said  in  speaking  to  Dan. 
"Unless  I  am  away  from  the  circus,  I  rarely 
talk  to  any  one,"  he  warned.  "Indeed  you 
might  spend  months  upon  months  with  the 
Very  Biggest  Circus  and  yet  never  hear  one 
of  its  animals  utter  so  much  as  a  word." 


; 


